93 



intervals, by a reddish-coloured, common agglutinating substance. 

 This, therefore, had some resemblance to a reddish-coloured, 

 orbicular-celled alga, forming roundish clusters not infrequently 

 found in these situations ; but whether any state of the latter," 

 occurring in the same water, it would be hard to say, but a 

 prio7-i they looked distinct. But a curious circumstance, as 

 regards the production now specially drawn attention to, was 

 that the young " fronds," which, unlike the very irregularly lobed 

 further advanced ones, were of a globular figure, with, of course, 

 a cavity within, possessed the power of rotating hither and thither 

 with some energy, but by what agency defied all efforts to perceive. 

 Sometimes these hollow globular examples seemed to possess 

 some kind of granular core or body in the centre. This very 

 unattractive looking object — algal apparently — would not deserve 

 a much closer examination, and Mr. Archer would be obliged to 

 content himself with this imperfect and crude note for the 

 present ; perhaps, indeed, he should apologise for having on 

 several late occasions brought forward some very puzzling little 

 nondescripts so very crudely, but he had done so in the hope (it 

 might be faint, indeed) that, even roughly as he was able to record 

 tbem, the possibility might be that observers elsewhere might be 

 able to recognise having met them, and be, perhaps, in a position 

 to throw some light upon the obscurity. 



EOTAL MiCEOSCOPICAL SOCIETT. 



October 13/7?, 18G9. — The President in the chair. — A list of 

 donations was read, and the thanks of the meeting presented to 

 the respective donors ; a special vote being accorded to Mr. Ross, 

 who, as the President announced, had given to the Society new 

 immersion front lenses for the |^th and -j'^th object-glasses which 

 he had already presented to the Society. 



Mr. Hogg exhibited a phial containing a quantity of dicJiroio 

 fluid ^ which had been found by Mr. Allbon in a ditch, between 

 Mortlake and Kew, and contained Batrachospermum atrum in a 

 decomposed state. The fluid obtained by Mr. Sheppard, of 

 Canterbury, who first discovered and described it, contained a 

 great deal of animal life, while that exhibited by Mr. Hogg was 

 almost entirely composed of a confervoid growth, the sides of 

 which were covered with cells filled with pseudo-naviculjB. When 

 examined by transmitted light the fluid gave a delicate bluish pink 

 colour, and by reflected light a reddish hue. Under the micro- 

 spectroscope, its spectrum is just that described by Mr. Browning 

 in vol. vii, 1867, of the Society's ' Transactions.' A few pieces of 

 camphor serve to preserve the fluid ; and although the specimen 

 exhibited had been corked up for several months, the colour is 



1 Tliis fluid, like that described by Mr. Shephard in Vol. VII of tliis 

 Journal, is clearly, as I pointed out in opposition to Mr. Reade, identical 

 with- the Phycocyan of Cohn, and is derived from dead Oscillarise. — E. R. L. 



