232 



great note sometimes omitted — namely, to take the earliest opportunity of 

 acknowledging the fact in the same place as that in which the statement had 

 been made. 



The President said that as there were no other papers before the meeting 

 he would gay a few words about a slide which he had brought down for 

 exhibition. The object was not one which he had seen put up as a micro- 

 scopic object, and although it was a very common thing and was shown in 

 almost every biological work, it was not everyone who had seen the thing 

 itself — he referred to the Spermatophore of one of the Cephalopoda— thz 

 common Squid. These creatures were common on the extreme western 

 coast of England during the late summer and autumn, at which time 

 they appeared to come in shore, and were then eagerly sought for by 

 fishermen on account of the value attached to them as bait. Having 

 described the process usually adopted in fishing for Squid, the points of 

 interest connected with the specimen exhibited were illustrated by a diagram 

 drawn upon the black-board. 



Mr. Morland inquired what medium was employed for mounting this 

 object. 



The President said the best thing for the purpose was diluted glycerine or 

 glycerine jelly. 



Professor Chas. Stewart said he quite agreed with the President that this 

 was an extraordinarily beautiful object, and one also very full of interest. 

 It could be readily obtained from the common Squid, and when mounted in 

 glycerine jelly and illuminated with a parabola or spot lens its features 

 were brought out exceedingly well. It was worth mentioning, however, that 

 glycerine jelly had an inconvenient way of developing large vacuoles in the 

 middle of the slide, which in course of time necessitated remounting. 

 Some year or two ago specimens of this object could be obtained stained and 

 mounted in balsam— he believed they came from Zoological Station at 

 Naples— but when prepared in this way they were certainly not such 

 beautiful objects. Perhaps the most remarkable Spermatophore was that 

 of a small species of Tremoctopus from the Mediterranean, which had 

 about 100 suckers close together upon the hectocotylus. On examining one 

 of these he found a rather remarkable thread, which was sticking out from 

 the great respiratory orifice. On tracing it, it was found to come out of the 

 genital opening, and on being drawn out he found it extended to a length of 

 two feet, and at one end there was the special armature which had been 

 described by the President. He thought it was rather an extraordinary 

 thing to find one of such remarkable dimensions, especially in the case of 

 one of the smallest of the Octopods. 



Mr. Karop said that though the President had mentioned the chief use 

 made of these creatures here was for the purpose of bait, on the Italian 

 shores the people ate them with avidity, and also sold them as food. He 

 moved a vote of thanks to the President, which was unanimously carried. 



Announcements of meetings for the ensuing month were then made, and 

 the proceedings terminated with the usual conversazione, and the following 

 objects were exhibited : — 



