27 
The PrestpentT announced that in accordance with the follow- 
_ ing resolution passed unanimously at the last meeting, viz. :— 
— **Qroydon Microscopical Club.— At a meeting of the members 
_ holden on the 15th day of March, 1876, it was resolved unani- 
_ ‘*mously that the Honorary Membership of the Club be conferred 
‘©on Kenneth McKean, Esq., on his departure for Indii, and that 
‘* this be accompanied by the expression of the best thanks of the 
‘** Members of the Club for the valuable services rendered by him as 
‘its Honorary Secretary, and of their sincere wishes for his 
** happiness and success in life.—Signed Henry Lee, President,’’— 
a testimonial on vellum had been prepared and engraved with the 
foregoing, and presented to Mr. McKean on the eve of his 
departure, and that Mr. McKean had requested him to convey his 
hearty thanks to the members for the honour they had done him. 
The Presipent further announced that the Lecture by Pro- 
fessor Rupert Jones on ‘‘ The Antiquity of Man” would take 
| place on Wednesday 26th inst. in the Large Hall, and also that 
_ Mr. Charles Stewart, F.L.S., F.L.M.S., &c. would read a paper 
* on ‘‘ Sea Stars and Sea Urchins ” at the next meeting to be held 
17th May. 
It was also announced that Mr. McKean had very kindly 
presented the Club with 58 slides, chiefly of his own mounting. 
Dr. Puirort then read a paper. 
I thought that an account of some recent microscopical 
researches, which have greatly advanced our knowledge of the 
~ nature of infectious disease, would be interesting to the members 
of this Club. On further consideration, however, I saw that this 
presupposed for its due appreciation an acquaintance with minute 
anatomy and pathology such as only those of my audience who 
have received a technical education in these subjects would be 
likely to possess. I have therefore widened the scope of my 
paper, and instead of giving a detailed account of the brilliant 
‘discoveries by which the causes of certain specific infectious 
_ diseases have been identified with low vegetable organisms (such as 
would be only interesting to my professional hearers), I propose 
to take a wider view in this paper, and treat of microscopical 
vegetable fungi, not only in relation to infectious disease, but in 
connection with other processes occurring in nature, with the 
causation of which they also appear to be intimately related, and 
this I trust may prove of interest to all. In the process of fer- 
mentation and putrefaction, chemical changes appear to be occa- 
sioned by the rapid growth and multiplication of minute living 
organisms. These processes are not only extremely interesting 
themselves, but derive additional interest from the light which a 
