247 



The Secretary said that a member of the Club had placed in his hand 

 the card of Mr. Webb, of Albany, AVestern Australia, who, he said, could be 

 strongly recommended as a collector of natural history specimens in that 

 Colonj\ He mentioned the matter knowing how valuable it sometimes was 

 to know of a person who could be relied upon in the event of his services 

 being required. 



Mr. Nelson exhibited and described a new aplanatic lens, recently made 

 by Zeiss, of Jena. 



The President said he had the opportunity of seeing those lenses a short 

 time ago, and was greatly pleased with their performance. The field was 

 extremely large and flat, and the focus was much longer than that of lenses 

 of ordinary construction. 



Mr. Nelson then read a short note "On a New Method of Equalising the 

 Thickness of Slips of Glass for use with Immersion Condensers," and also a 

 paper " On Microscopical Antiquities," illustrated by numerous diagrams 

 of the various types of the early forms of microscope. 



Mr. J. D. Hardy said he had brought down the old instrument referred to 

 by Mr. Nelson, at his request, but he had not used it so as to ascertain its 

 capabilities. It was a beautiful piece of brass wotk. 



Mr. Karop said it seemed a most extraordinary thing, on looking at the 

 illustrations before them, to observe with what facility makers seemed to 

 devise mechanical figments to be added to the microscope with no possible 

 advantage to the worker. The French and Germans adhered to the simple 

 forms much more than the English did, and it was only necessary to look at 

 one of those instruments of the Varley type to see that it was filled up as 

 far as possible with racks, and pinions, and screws, and caps, until it seemed 

 as if the object was to prevent its use as a microscope as far as possible. It 

 was really quite curious to see the diabolical ingenuity of mechanism in- 

 troduced into some of the most modern specimens. 



The President said that he was sure they would feel that their best thanks 

 were due to Mr. Nelson for his" very interesting and welcome paper, which 

 had afforded them a great deal of information, and had certainly involved 

 a great deal of research. The paper would have been of value to them for 

 its antiquarian interest alone, but apart from that it had almost a greater 

 interest, because it showed them the various stages in the growth of the 

 instrument with which they worked, and it taught them how the wants of the 

 workers had become gradually felt, and what steps had been formulated by 

 men of intelligence gradually to meet those wants. The consideration of 

 these wants, and the way in which they had been met, might have a yet 

 further value as a possible guide to what might probably be the course to be 

 taken in the future — for by showing them in what way men got over the 

 very serious difficulties which involved the growth of the microscope, they 

 might to some degree be guided as to the course to be pursued in the case of 

 instruments which had not reached the perfection to which the microscope 

 had been brought in the present day. 



The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Nelson for his communica. 

 tions. 



Journ. Q. M. C, Series II., No. 14. w 



