92 president's address. 



men were present^ and also some ladies. After tea and coffee as 

 usual, Mr. H. B. Brady read an interesting paper on " Some 

 methods of Mounting and Preserving Objects for the Microscope," 

 and exhibited a series of illustrative specimens under the micro- 

 scopes belonging to himself. Dr. Embleton, and other gentlemen. 



Mr. Albany Hancock, at the request of the President, exhibited 

 to his fellow-members the Gold and Silver Medals awarded to 

 him by the Royal Society in the preceding month. 



Mr. Henry T. Mennell, the corresponding Secretary, read a 

 paper " On the Occurrence of rare Mollusks on the Northumber- 

 land Coast," which he illustrated by a great variety of specimens^ 

 and an abstract of which has appeared in our '' Transactions.'' 

 The members present were much amused by the graphic descrip- 

 tion of the visits paid by our Naturalists to the " five-man boats'* 

 of the Whitby fishermen, who occasionally seek a market for 

 their fish at Newcastle Quay. The fishermen have acquired a 

 knowledge of the rarer treasures of the deep, and lay them aside 

 whenever they fall into their hands, for sale to Naturalists, with 

 whom they drive hard bargains. They have names of their ovvrt 

 for what they find (names unknown to the books), such as " Wide 

 Mouth," "Twisted Whelk," and "Lang Neck." Mr. Mennell 

 exhibited, under the microscope, tongues of most of the species 

 mentioned in his paper, and also sections of the shells. 



Dr. Embleton exhibited living specimens of a genus ( C7/dippe) 

 of the Ciliograde Acalephce, which he had found on the sands at 

 CuUercoats, having been cast up by the tide (as is not uncom- 

 monly the case after a storm.) The members passed the bottle 

 containing the specimens from hand to hand; and the ciliary 

 motions of these singular gelatinous animals, the inhabitants of 

 every sea, were wonderingly observed. The exhibition was of 

 short duration, for the Doctor said he must remove them to an 

 atmosphere more congenial to their constitution than that of the 

 Club-room. 



Mr. John Hancock exhibited a dead specimen of the Great 

 Auk (Alca imperinis), and also one of its eggs. This bird is said 

 to be extinct, and Mr Hancock's specimen is supposed to be the 

 last that lived, and the egg the last that it laid ; so that, on this 



