418 PROCEEDTNGS OF THE SOCIETY. 



Colonel Clibborn exhibited a tank he had constructed. It was con- 

 structed of two pieces of plate-glass about nine inches in length, kept 

 apart and made water-tight by means of an undressed rubber tube 

 running along the bottom and sides, strips of wood inside the tube keep- 

 ing the glass sides the required distance apart. Pieces of angle-brass 

 clamped by means of bolts and nuts kept the sides firm, and the whole 

 was then fitted to a wooden base. It was a simple thing to make and 

 could be taken to pieces in a minute. 



Colonel Clibborn was thanked for his exhibit. 



The President gave a short description of the booklet published by 

 the Medical Research Committee on the " l^iagnosis of <jronococcal 

 Infections and the Methods for the Detection of Spiroch^etes." He had 

 previously invited the Fellows of the Society to put their knowledge at 

 the disposal of the medical men of this country in assisting them in the 

 diagnosis of venereal diseases. The booklet referred to was now ready, 

 and he would be pleased to let those who could assist in the direction 

 indicated have copies as far as the supply was available. The Council 

 would be glad to have the names of those Fellows who could help and 

 who had not yet replied, so that a complete list could be printed as soon 

 as possible. He was quite convinced there was room for the Society to 

 do useful work in this direction. The method was very simple with the 

 dark-ground illumination apparatus now available. 



2'he question of iUumination was a difficult one even in ordinary 

 work, and he had found a difficulty in that resi3ect in connexion with 

 this particular work. The intensity of the illuminant was a very 

 important factor. The differentiation of Spirocliseta pallidum was 

 difficult when other Spirochaetes were present. He had therefore 

 designed a very simple gas-lamp which helped to solve the problem. 

 It was sufficiently intense to see S. pallidum easily, and it enabled its 

 characteristics to be observed. He wished them to note that the main 

 point of difference from the other similar objects showing in the 

 field at the same time was the very definite blueness of colour of the 

 organism. The source of light in the lamp was an incandescent 

 mantle, but it was not used as an open fabric which gave bright lines 

 and dark spaces, but the mantle was lightly rolled and put in a tube. 

 The fabric had to be specially woven, cut off into lengths and made 

 into cigarette form. It was pushed into a n:ketal tube, with a quarter 

 of an inch protruding which came in touch with a Bunsen flame. The 

 end could be actually in the flame for days together while the rest of the 

 mantle remained unaltered. The mantle could be easily renewed from 

 time to time by pushing forward the unburnt portion in the tnbe. It 

 provided an image circular in area, and as large or as small as desired. 

 It fulfilled the want there was for an illuminant of sufficient intensity 

 with not too large an area, and he trusted it might be useful in the work 

 for which it had been designed. 



Mr. A. Ashe and Mr. M. A. Ainslie congratulated the President on 

 the production of a very efficient illuminant, the latter pointing out that 



