106 JOURNAL OF THE IJ^^V' 



PROCEEDINGS. 



Meeting of February 6th, 1891. 



The President, Mr. P. H. Dudley, in the chair. 



Fourteen persons present. 



Mr. Anthony Woodward announced the death at Bournemouth, 

 England, on January loth, 1891, of Mr. Henry Bowman Brady, 

 F.R. S., LL. D., the writer on Foraminifera in connection with the 

 " Challenger " Expedition. 



Rev. E. C. BoUes, D.D, presented a paper by Mr. E. S.*Drake, 

 of Portland, Maine, entitled " The Discovery of Microscopic 

 Tourmalines in the Micas of Maine." 'I his paper was illustrated 

 by twenty microscopical slides prepared by Mr. Drake, and it is 

 published in this number of the Journal, page 102. 



In the discussion of this paper Dr. Bolles said that this mica 

 is found in pieces of about the size of the human hand. A beau- 

 tiful, i)late-like form of quartz is sometimes found in mica, but 

 not in the locality here mentioned. And, further, that Mr. Drake 

 deserves great credit for isolating these crystals, which are ex- 

 ceedingly fragile. 



Mr. J. D. Hyatt said that he had found crystals which resem- 

 bled these in the mica of Manhattan Island, New York. 



OBJECTS EXHIBITED. 



1. Twenty microscopical slides, prepared by Mr. E. S. Drake, 

 illustrating the paper of the evening : by E. C Bolles. 



2 . Balancer of the House-fly, Musca doniestica L., with so-called 

 auditory organs : by J. L. Zabriskie. 



Mr. Zabriskie said that the balancers of the diptera are doubt- 

 less rudimentary posterior wings. They are of dumb-bell form, 

 situated upon, and directed outward and backward from the 

 posterior sides of the thorax. The hou e-fly has two curious 

 structures on the opposed surfaces of the enlarged base of each 

 balancer, which structures are considered by some authors to be 

 auditory organs. These structures occupy elliptical enclosures, 

 which are crossed transversely by ten or eleven prominent ridges 

 of beads, the ridges being separated by flattened depressions, and 

 the depressions being furnished at regular intervals with stout 

 hairs curving backward over the ridges. 



