315 



promote — lies the best substitute for individual experience ; the 

 knowledge acquired by any should be available for all, and errors 

 of solitary observation are soon corrected when brought to the test 

 of criticism and comparison. Most conducive to a true knowledge 

 of objects is their examination in a recent state, and an acquaint- 

 ance with the appearance of ordinary things will be found much 

 more valuable than the settlement of a Diatom or Podura question. 

 In the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the parasites that plague 

 us, and the very dust about us, there is a large field for investiga- 

 tion as a necessary preparation for other studies, which has also an 

 interest of its own at a time when the president of the Board of 

 Trade tells us that adulteration is but a form of trade competition. 

 The poor Welsh imposter gave evidence of her fatal deception only 

 a short time since, in the starch which the microscope discovered 

 in her stomach ; and many other instances might be adduced to 

 recommend the study of common things. Our principal object, 

 however, should be to inquire into the natural history of our own 

 locality, the minute fauna of which has been but imperfectly 

 examined. Our shore ofl:ers every inducement to extend research. 

 The smaller Crustaceans are scarcely known amongst us, although 

 two of the most curious and interesting — the Caprella and Ammo- 

 tliea — abound on the weed at Kemp Town and give promise of 

 allied species of greater rarity as a reward for search. For full 

 appreciation of minute structure comparison with permanent 

 specimens is necessary. Mounted specimens cannot, however, be 

 seen under sufficiently varied conditions, and w^e may as well take 

 an ancient Egyptian as a specimen man as trust exclusively to the 

 mummies in balsam w^hicli fill our cabinets ; we must, instead — as 

 students of nature — •follow her home and watch her ways patiently, 

 as far as we can. Nothing can be known of the Protozoa, or 

 Kotatoria, unless we examine them in life. Cyclosis in vegetable 

 cells must in like manner be seen in life to be seen at all. The 

 generation of the cryptogams would be actually hidden if the germi- 

 nation of their spores had not been a subject of unwearied atten- 

 tion. The structure of the Foraminifera was not demonstrated by 

 Carj)enter without systematic work. The discovery of the alter- 

 nation of generations was due to careful study, and the knowledge 

 of the fact of the Polyps of our shores having other existences as 

 free swimming Medusae considerably modified our previous ideas 

 respecting them. " We can all," concluded Mr. Hennah, " make 

 some advance in knowledge by the systematic study of recent 

 things, even though it be by tedious repetition ; and I trust that 

 by our work we may justify the formation of this section of our 

 Society." 



Mr. Wonfor then announced the receipt of 18 slides from Mr. 

 Hennah, 6 from Dr. Halifax, and 38 from himself, for the Society's 

 cabinet, and urged on all the members to contribute. 



The meeting then resolved itself into a conversazione, at which 

 the following gentlemen exhibited microscopic objects, under a 

 goodly array of microscopes by the best London makers : — Mr. J. 



