19 



BRIEF ABSTRACTS OP THE REPORTS OP THE 

 SCIENTIPIC MEETINGS. 



January 1, 1874. 



Colonel Horsley displayed under his microscope the stinging 

 threads with their barbed heads of Hydra vulgaris ; and the stato- 

 blasts of the fresh- water polyzoon Plumatella repens. Mr. Hay- 

 ward produced a mounted specimen of the sting of the hornet, on. 

 which were counted eleven barbs. Mr. FuUagar showed and 

 described several live Protozoa of the genus Amoeba. 



February 5, 1874. 



The evening was passed in the examination, under Colonel 

 Hor.sley's microscope, of several specimens of Stephanoceros and 

 Floscularia, all alive, from Mr. Fullagar's aquarium. 



March 4, 1874. 



Colonel Cox laid on the table, and made explanatory observations 

 concerning a variety of polished Agates ; including a singularly 

 large and beautiful one, of an ochreous color from an oxide of iron ; 

 a fine example of sponge in silica ; and choanite imbedded in silicate 

 of lime, so as to show the connexion of the choanites with the chalk 

 formation. 



Mrs. Dean brought several specimens of the flowering plants 

 growing wild in the district, and Mr. George Down some mosses 

 and lichens in fruit. Colonel Horsley showed and described live 

 specimens of Stephanoceros and Floscularia. 



Fresh-water Polyps. — Mr. Fullagar, referring to his papers with 

 engraved illustrations in " Science Gossip," described the develop- 

 ment from the eggs of Hydra vulgaris and Hydra viridis, and the 

 ditference in the size and superficies of those eggs in the two species, 

 largest and spinous in H. vulgaris, smaller and smoother in H. 

 viridis. In one case the hatching of the egg took place in 55 

 days ; of this species in every case the tentacles of the newly- 

 hatched animals were fewer than in the adult. 



April 1, 1874. 



Mrs. Dean exhibited a collection of Phanerogamia, including 

 beautiful plants of Adoxa moschatellina, all in bloom and wild in 



