138 



The Secretary said that Mr. Sigsworth had asked him to bring before the 

 notice of the members a small clip which he had found very useful for 

 mounting and other purposes. It had a small curved steel spring screwed 

 upon a piece of cedar, and was sold by stationers as a paper clip. It 

 appeared to be more useful in many cases than the American clips, which 

 had a want of parallelism. In reply to a question, Mr. Sigsworth stated 

 that the article could be obtained from almost any stationer for a shilling 

 per dozen. 



The President said they were favoured by the presence of Dr. Ralph* 

 President of the Victoria (Australia) Microscopical Society, and welcomed 

 him cordially in the name of the Club. 



The President said they had received a letter from the President of the 

 Natal Microscopical Society, accompanied by some diatomaceous earth* 

 w r hich would be reported upon when it had been examined. 



The President read a communication from the Rev. H. J. Fase, describing 

 a new form of portable microscope, which was sent that evening for exhibi- 

 tion. 



The Secretary exhibited the microscope, and explained its various features 

 in detail. 



The President said he was extremely pleased with this new instrument, 

 and felt sure that when the members examined it after the meeting they 

 would agree that it was quite a multum in parvo. One very useful arrange- 

 ment was that which admitted of the condenser being used also as a dis- 

 secting lens. 



Dr. Ralph, who was called upon by the President, expressed the pleasure 

 which he felc at being present at a meeting of the Club. He had brought 

 wath him a specimen of T r allisneria of a species found in Victoria, which he 

 thought it might be interesting to cultivate in this country. It grew freely 

 in Sydney, and was altogether much larger than the English species. The 

 leaves, when fully grown, attained a length of four or five feet, with a 

 breadth of about an inch, whilst their thiokness was so great that horizontal 

 sections of the leaves could be cut, and the cyclosis seen in this way to 

 great advantage. He had grown this plant in Australia, in the open air, in 

 a window, and found it would stand a temperature of 100° without injury, 

 but it would not bear the cold of winter in this country if exposed. He had 

 much pleasure in presenting a specimen of the male plant to the Club. He 

 believed that male plants were never seen in England, but they had both 

 in Sydney, and he had brought over specimens of each for the purpose of 

 cultivation. Another matter which he might mention as being of some 

 interest was that some years ago he took occasion to examine the material 

 filling the holes in wood made by wood-boring Larvaa. This consisted of 

 their excreta. They had in Australia some very large moths — one species 

 was as much as one ounce in weight — the larvae of which penetrated the 

 trunks of trees, and as they did so they threw out a large quantity of a 

 powdery material, which was the woody matter after it had passed through 

 the intestinal canal of the larvae. If a small portion of this matter were 

 placed on a slide with a little water, a number of Filarine appeared, and the 



