372 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 



Meeting of 10th Maech, 1880, at King's College, Strand, W.C. 

 The President (Dr. Beale, F.R.S.) in the Chair. 



The Minutes of the meeting of 11th February last were read and 

 confirmed, and were signed by the President. 



The List of Donations (exclusive of exchanges) received since the 

 last meeting was submitted, and the thanks of the Society given to 

 the donors. 



Cornu, M. — " Monographie des Saprolegnie'esJ" and separate copies of From 



30 of the author's other papers The Author. 



Cutter, E. — Primer of the Clinical Microscope. 32 pp., 7 figs. 



(Svo. Boston, 1879) Ditto. 



Gulliver, Prof. G., F.R.S. — The Hunterian Oration delivered at the 



Royal College of Surgeons of England, 14th February, 1863. 



Second Edition, 21 pp. (8vo. Canterbury, 1880) Ditto. 



Moller, Prof. V. v. — Die Foraminiferen des Russischen Kohlenkalks. 



132 pp., 7 plates, and 30 figs. (4to. St. Petersburg, 1879) .. Ditto. 



Section of tiJe stem of Lime Tree Mr. Beck. 



Two Microscopes (by Ahrens), one Monocular and one Binocular .. Mr. Crisp. 



Professor P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., read a paper " On a parasitic 

 Sponge of the order Calcarea " (within Carpenteria raphidodendron), 

 illustrated by drawings on the board and by specimens exhibited 

 under the Microscope. 



Dr. Millar said he had the opportunity some time ago of seeing 

 Professor Duncan's si^ecimens, and they struck him as being extremely 

 like the casts of Clionce which are so frequently found in flint. 



Dr. Matthews said that the question of parasitism seemed to be 

 very doubtful yet. He had examined many specimens of so-called 

 parasitism of sponge on coral, and found tbat in many cases the coral 

 was parasitic upon the sponge which it seemed to bave grown round 

 and included. He had, however, other specimens in which it was clearly 

 the sponge which was parasitic upon the coral. 



Mr. Stewart said that the question was whether it was a sponge 

 or not ? In order to determine this, something more was necessary to 

 judge by ; they ought, in fact, to have some of the soft parts. The 

 mere presence of sj)icules like those of the sponges would not settle- 

 the question, because so many other organisms had spines almost 

 identical in character. An organism which will at one time form 

 carbonate of lime, and at another time will destroy it, had a ijarallel 

 in certain of the Mollusca, which were quite capable of secreting shell 

 at one period and of removing it subsequently. They also knew 

 that certain cells would at one time form bone and at another would 

 become actual bone destroyers. 



Professor Duncan said that if they wanted to classify properly they 

 must of course have the whole structure before them, but if they could 

 not get it what were they to do ? In such a case they must of course 

 take the general character of the thing and be guided by that. It 

 might be a Foraminifer — it was quite possible — but still he did not 

 know any Foraminifera with spicules like it. 



