PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 447 



by the larcfc size of tlie nuclei, which presented an extraordinary appear- 

 ance, considering- the comparatively low power lens used. He thought 

 that if Mr. Sheppard would look at some of his specimens binocularly 

 he would slightly modify the view^ of the chromatin from the cell-walls. 

 Another suggestion was whether or not the iron-alum method was alone 

 sufficient ; personally he thought it should be supplemented, and his 

 reason waR that he had been reading some of Professor Martin's w^ork, 

 and for quite a long time had not been al)le to reconcile Martin's 

 method with his own. He felt all along somehow that the methods he 

 had himself employed Avere wrong, and it was only by applying special 

 methods to try and stain the chromatin and the enveloping membrane 

 of the spermatozoa that he was able to confirm some of the results Pro- 

 fessor Martin gave. It had been a great pleasure to hear Mr. Sheppard's 

 paper, and he thought that if he would try some such method as he 

 liad suggested, he would have something else interesting to communicate. 



In reply to Mr. Coon's remarks, Mr. Sheppard said he had not limited 

 himself to the use of iron-ha^matoxylm for the purpose of examining 

 nuclear structure. With regard to the investigation of the presence or 

 otherwise of a nuclear membrane, and the existence of internal nuclear 

 structure, he had tried several methods, the technique of which accord- 

 ing to recent contributions and in a cytological point of view were con- 

 sidered by authorities to produce the most reliable results. 



He could not for a moment bring himself to believe that staining 

 alone would be sufficient to convince one of the presence of a nuclear 

 membrane ; it was a matter largely of how one regarded the individual 

 nucleus whilst focusing. 



He was a non-believer in the presence of any structure, of the 

 nature just described, in the nuclei of the different tissues which had 

 passed under his observation. 



The thanks of the Society were cordially voted to Mr. Sheppard for 

 his interesting communication. 



The Chairman announced that the next Meeting of the Brass and 



Class Section would take place on Wednesday, June 2.5, when a demon- 

 stration would be given of " A new form of colour illuminator." 



No Meeting of the Biological Section would be held until November 

 next ; this announcement also held good for the Meeting of the Brass 

 and Glass Section, after its Wednesday meeting was over. 



The Chairman said that at the Council Meeting held that evening, 

 the question of a Conversazione had been discussed, and it had been 

 decided that one should be held on October 15 next. He had been 

 particularly asked to remind Fellows that a function of this kind was a 

 field-day for private members as it were, and it was earnestly hoped 



