206 



expense at seventy-five or one hundred dollars. The sub- 

 ject was referred to the Council. 



The Curator of Herpetology, who was absent at the 

 Annual Meeting, reported his department of the Cabinet to 

 be in good condition. Twenty-five specimens have been 

 added to the Cabinet during the year. Considerable pro- 

 gress has been made towards an accurate classification of 

 the specimens. 



Dr. Durkee exhibited under the microscope the blood 

 globules of the frog, as well as the circulation of the blood 

 in the capillaries of the web of the foot. He remarked that 

 he had observed the circulation of the blood in a minute 

 portion of the lung, for twenty minutes after its separation 

 from the remainder of the organ. Hassall states that the 

 tongue of a frog, when cut out and placed in water, shows 

 the capillary circulation for more than twelve hours. 



Dr. Durkee also exhibited some of the vegetable growths 

 in Cochituate Water. 



A letter from Dr. Kneeland was read, presenting several 

 specimens in the name of Dr. M. W. Weld ; among others, 

 a Perch. The following is an extract : — 



" The fish in alcohol is a Perch, thrown out alive from the 

 hydrant in Bedford Street, near the Latin Schoolhouse, last 

 week. It seems to me that some provision ought to be made, 

 either at the pond, or the reservoir, to prevent the entrance of 

 such large fishes as this into the water-pipes. There have been 

 of late more instances than usual of large fishes taken from the 

 pipes. These fishes could not return to the reservoir, and would 

 very soon perish and contaminate the water. Very few of the 

 fishes which are thus brought into the pipes would escape from 

 the hydrants, and unknown numbers would be left to perish in 

 the water. Whether the general cause of the impurity of the 

 Cochituate Water be vegetable or animal, it seems very likely 



