804 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 



Mr. Herbert F. Angus, of the firm of H. F. Angus and Co., ex- 

 hibited and described a number of Microscopes by R. Winkel, of 

 Gottingen, who, lie said, enjoyed a high reputation in Germany, although 

 almost unknown in England. He pointed out that the model was of the 

 more or less stereotyped Continental pattern, inclining more to the Zeiss 

 model than any other, but differing in several important details, as was 

 only to be expected in the productions of an old-established firm who had 

 given proof of their originality in the past by first employing fluorite in 

 the construction of objectives, and producing an objective with a hyper- 

 hemispherical front lens. At the present day, however, they would base 

 their claim to notice rather on the quality than the novelty of their pro- 

 duction, and of that quality, both mechanical and optical, the Fellows 

 would have an opportunity of judging that evening, as besides the instru- 

 ments set up with test objects, a number of their stands with low-power 

 objectives had been included among those of Swift, Leitz, and Reichert, 

 which his firm had had the pleasure of loaning for Mr. Hilton's use that 

 evening. 



The President said that he felt a peculiar interest in this exhibit of 

 Microscopes, since about thirty years ago he had bought his first Micro- 

 scope, which was one made by Winkel. 



The thanks of the Society were accorded to Mr. Angus for his 

 exhibit, and also for the loan of Microscopes to illustrate Mr. Hilton's 

 exhibits. 



The President made a communication on Japanese Pennatulids, and 

 exhibited some typical specimens of great beauty. He said that he had 

 been entrusted by Professor Ijima, of Tokyo University, with a collec- 

 tion of Pennatulids, on the study of which he was at present engaged. 

 His report was not yet ready for publication, but he had thought that it 

 would be of interest to the Fellows of the Society to see a representative 

 sample of these beautiful Sea-Pens. They would understand when they 

 looked at the dimensions of the specimens, why it was necessary on a 

 long railway journey to be content with a sample of the collection. 



The Pennatulacea, or Stelechotokea, include some of the most beau- 

 tiful of fixed marine animals — long graceful colonies, often plume-like, 

 as their name suggests, with rich colouring, and with strong luminescence. 

 They live fixed on the floor of the sea, and many of them show a familiar 

 adaptation to life .on the bottom — long stalks raising the polyp-bearing 

 portion off the substratum. In deep-water forms, such as the beautiful 

 Umbellulas, the proportion of sterile stalk to polyp-bearing rachis reaches 

 an extreme. 



The Pennatulids were related to Aicyonarians, such as Dead Men's 

 Fingers, Precious Coral, Organ-Pipe Coral, the Gorgonids, and the 

 Gorgonellids, like Hiclcsonella, which Mr. Simpson had established as a 

 new genus at the last Meeting of the Society. They differed markedly, 

 however, in several respects. In a very remarkable way, the primary 

 polyp which developed from the fertilized egg-cell was sacrificed to 

 forming the main axis on which the secondary polyps were borne, which 

 in turn might give off (always through the intermediation of stolons or 

 solenia) tertiary polyps, and so on. A central rod, which was present in 



