233 



MICEOSCOPICAL SECTIOIS'. 



March 17th, 1862. 



E. W. BiNNEY, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S., in the Chah-. 



Twelve specimens of soundings were received from Captain 

 George Randall, of the barque " Brazil," taken on the north 

 coast of Brazil; also five specimens from Captain George 

 Murray, of the ship '^ Finzel," taken off Robin Island, Table 

 Bay ; coasts of Sumatra, Java, and St. Helena. 



Mr. H. A. Hurst made a donation of eight slides of 

 diatomaceee of various kinds ; also specimens of fibre from 

 the Bombax, or East Indian Cotton Tree, and the fibre of 

 the Asclepias Syriacus from Bengal. Some conversation 

 arose upon the adaptation of these fibres as substitutes for 

 cotton, but, although fine and silky, there is not sufficient 

 strength in the staple to render them fit for manufacturing 

 purposes. 



Mr. Blandford presented, through Mr. Hurst, a number 

 of specimens of the tongues of mollusca from Burmah, upon 

 which Dr. Thomas Alcock reported that there Avere four 

 species, two being fresh water, Melania variabilis ; a species 

 of Paludomus; and two land shells, different species of 

 Cyclophorus. 



Cyclophorus belongs to a section of the order Pulmonata, 

 distinguished by having an operculum or door to the mouth 

 of the shell, and by having a type of teeth similar to that of 

 the Pectinibranchiata. Cyclostoma elegans is a British 

 representative of the same group. 



Mr. Cheetham exhibited a prism, which he uses to 

 illuminate objects under the microscope with the variously 



