182 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



of King's College the whole building was thrown open on 

 this occasion, including the Museum of G-eorge III and the 

 Natural History Museum, the interesting contents of which 

 were a great source of attraction, and contributed to prevent the 

 large hall and libraries from being overcrowded. The refresh- 

 ment department, which proved insufficient on former occasions, 

 was conducted this year on a much larger scale, an additional 

 room having been assigned to it, and nothing omitted that could 

 promote the comfort of the visitors. The exhibition of objects of 

 beauty and interest was such as not only to afford satisfaction to 

 the Society and their guests, but also to create a belief that the 

 interest for microscopical research is greatly on the increase. 



There was, on the whole, a larger display of microscopes of every 

 description than usual, contributed by nearly all of the London 

 makers — Messrs. Ross, Messrs. Beck, Messrs. Powell and Lealand, 

 Mr. Ladd, Mr. Baker, Messrs. Murray and Heath, Home and 

 Thornwaite, J. How, Crouch, Swift, Browning, Collins, Norman, 

 "Wheeler, Salmon, &c. &c. 



The collection of old microscopes, superintended by Mr. 

 Williams, occupied one of the most attractive tables of the exhi- 

 bition. Under the Martin's microscope a splendid crystallized 

 mass of bismuth, with iridescent colours, formed a most splendid 

 object, while it demonstrated the large field and power of this 

 remarkable instrument. There was also the microscope made for 

 George III, with other curious early microscopes. A new reflect- 

 ing goniometer was shown by Mr. Browning, as well as a number 

 of spectroscopes. The absorption bands of the red feather of 

 the Turacus alho-cristatus, in which Professor Church discovered 

 the red organic pigment turacine, containing copper, were exhi- 

 bited by Mr. Browning, and the structure of the feather was 

 shown by Mr. Slack. The platform was occupied by Dr. Carpenter 

 and Mr. Henry Lee, the former bringing a beautiful collection to 

 illustrate the structure of the Ophiuridse, and the latter exhibiting 

 a selection of objects from the Paris Exhibition, and some elegant 

 drawings of snow crystals on the squares of a chess board. 



Mr. Ladd's exceedingly fine specimens of Iceland spar were a 

 source of much attraction ; and under one of his microscopes a 

 " spirally crystallized sulphate of copper." This salt, it appears, 

 when permitted to crystallize from warm solutions, assumes, 

 according to the temperature, a spiral appearance, as though the 

 solution during the process of cooling had been full of minute 

 whirlpools, or rather had taken on a rotatory motion. In this 

 state it becomes an attracti^^e object for polarized light. Mr. W. S. 

 Waddington sliowed a beautiful and interesting series of micro-sub- 

 limates ; and in one of the lecture-rooms Mr. How, by the aid of 

 the oxy-hydrogen light, exhibited at intervals a series of Dr. 

 Maddox's micro-photographs, and a superb collection of photo- 

 graphs from various parts of Europe. Mr. How's kaleidoscope, 

 applied to the gas microscope, was also much admired. 



Mr. Hopkinson's collection of fossils, among which we noticed 



