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PEOCEEDINGS. 



October 18th, 1901. — Ordinary Meeting. 

 J. G. Waller, Esq., F.S.A., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



The minutes of the preceding meeting were read and confirmed, 

 Mr. Charles J. Jones and Mr. Harry Moore were balloted for 

 and duly elected members of the Club. 



The donations and additions to the Library and Cabinet were 

 announced, and the thanks of the Club unanimously voted to 

 the donors. 



The Secretary said that some bottles of material sent by 

 Mr. C. J. Pound from Queensland for distribution had been 

 handed to Messrs. Rout^selet and Scourfield for examination 

 and report. 



Mr. Ashe's paper on " Two-speed Fine Adjustments " was read 

 by Mr. Scourfield, and illustrated by drawings on the blackboard. 



The thanks of the meeting were voted to the author and the 

 reader. 



Mr. D. J. Scourfield read a paper on " Hydra and the Surface- 

 film of Water," illustrated by blackboard drawings. 



Mr. Morland said the properties of the surface-film of water 

 were very often seen when one wanted to clean a single diatom,^ 

 which would often rest on the top instead of in the water. The 

 strength of the surface-film was also well seen when a needle 

 was carefully laid upon it. The needle was of course much 

 heavier than water, and yet it would rest on the surface, which 

 could be seen to be depressed by it. 



Mr. Karop thought the chief point^ of interest in this paper 

 lay in the description of the gelatinous suspensory filaments, 

 which, so far as he knew, had not been observed before in 

 Hydra, although similar strands of gelatine were known to be 

 given off by some other creatures. For instance, the movements 

 of some of the Gregarines, formerly inexplicable, have been 



