Proceedings. Vii. 
A discussion ensued, in which Mr. G. F. Linney, Mr. H. M. 
Klaassen, Dr. Strong, and the President took part. 
In addition to the collection of minerals, &c., exhibited by 
the President in illustration of his paper, Mr. J. Packham, of 
Katharine-street, exhibited 22,000 grains, equal to 3-lb. 21-oz. 
of solid matter which had been obtained by distillation, from 
1,000 gallons of Croydon water; Mr. A. D. Taylor, Lavender, 
with scent ducts; Mr. K. McKean, Larva; Mr. E. Lovett, 
Parasite of Flying Fox, also an improved method for illumi- 
nation of objects ; Mr. Edward Williams, Fungi. 
NintH ANNUAL SOIREE. 
Held on Wednesday, Nov. 6th, 1878. 
This was held, as hitherto, in the Large and Small Public 
Halls, and was attended by: 140 members, 53 of whom exhi- 
bited; 106 exhibitors from other clubs; and 549 visitors, 
making a total of 795, as against 770 in 1877. 173 microscopes 
were exhibited. 
The musical arrangements were again under the care of Mr. 
George Webb, who attended with four instrumentalists. 
Many interesting objects were exhibited, among which may 
be mentioned a collection of crystals by the President; the 
Quadruple Electro Chronograph which was used for the obser- 
vations on the transit of Venus in 1874, exhibited by Mr. 
Thomas Cushing, by permission of the Secretary of State for 
India; a Phoneidoscope, an instrument for observing the 
colour figures of liquid films, under the action of sonorous 
vibrations, by Dr. Philpot; Butterflies trom the Malay Archi- 
pelago, among which were specimens of the Leaf butterfly 
(Kallima paralekta), of Sumatra, by Mr. Alfred Russel Wal- 
lace; two Roman cinerary urns of glass, a number of skulls 
of Mammalia, stuffed birds, and a portion of the trunk of a horse 
chesnut tree in which an iron chain had become embedded, 
by Mr. John Flower; Aquaria, by Mr. H. M. Klaassen and 
Mr. A. D. Taylor; mineralogical specimens by Mr. J. Toms 
and Mr. H. Long; crustacea, by Mr. Lovett; fossils by Mr. 
Henry Turner and Mr. J. R. Frewer; a carbon candle as used in 
the Jablochkoff system of electric lighting, by Mr. Thomas 
Cushing; specimens of silk-producing insects, by Mr. J. A. 
Clark ; weather charts, by Mr. George Corden. Microscopical 
specimens were also kindly lent by Dr. Ord, and exhibited by 
the President. 
Microscopes were exhibited by members of the following clubs: 
Croydon.—The President, Messrs. W. R. Adams, Berney, 
