186 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



Presented by 



Slide of Spiral Sulphate of Copper . . . Mr. Ladd. 



Journal of Linneati Society . . . Society. 



Canadian Journal, No. 66 . . . Institute. 



Photographic Journal .... Editor. 



The Student ..... Publisher. 



Micro-sublimation, by H. J. Waddington . _. Author. 



Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, 



4 Parts . . ... Academy. 



Abhanlungen herausgegeben von Naturwissenschaftlichen 



Vereine zu Bremen, 1868 



Land and Water (weekly) . . . Editor. 



Journal of Society of Arts . . . Society. 



Portrait of James Bowerbank, Esq., F.R.S., &c. . J. Bowerbank. 



Report of Board of Health on Cholera Epidemic of 1854 Jabez Hogg. 



Annals of Natural History . . . Purchased. 



The Seceetaet described " A Reversible Compressorium, witb 

 a Eevolving Disk," designed by S. Piper, F.R.M.S. (See p. 114.) 



Dr. Thudichum delivered an interesting address " On the 

 Relation of Microscopic Pungi to Pathological Processes, particu- 

 larly the Process of Cholera." He proceeded to a critical exami- 

 nation of the latest inquiries of Klob, Thome, Hallier, &c., all of 

 whom attribute the symptoms of cholera to a ^^ fungus contagium,''' 

 and which they say can be found in all the excretory fluids of 

 persons affected with this disease. Their so-called " micrococci," 

 which, as they suppose, destroy the villi of the intestines with 

 much rapidity, were, in Dr. Thudichum's opinion, the results of 

 granular disintegration, and could be met with in all albuminous 

 and nitrogenous matters after standing a few hours. As to the 

 " cylindriform fungi " of Klob, they were not fungi at all, but 

 bodies termed "vibriones," which rapidly multiply by self-division, 

 and when present have nothing whatsoever specifically to do with 

 the cause of cholera. 



Mr. Hogg highly eulogised the scientific and valuable labours 

 of Dr. Thudichum, and observed that the subject offered an attrac- 

 tive and promising field of research for the Fellows of the Society, 

 skilled, as most of them were, in the use of the microscope. He 

 quite concurred in the views expressed by Dr. Thudichum ; and 

 Dr. Hassall, who during the epidemic visitation of 1854 made 

 twenty-five examinations of the rice-water discharges, stated 

 " that in none could he find either sporules, threads, or any 

 species of fungus." In some, however, after standing by for a 

 space of twenty-four hours, he observed " myriads of vibriones." 

 A full account of these examinations, with illustrations, appeared 

 in the ' Annual Report of the Board of Health ' of the period, a 

 copy of which Mr. Hogg had much pleasure in presenting to the 

 Society. He would also direct attention to the valuable researches 

 of Dr. Thudichum on this subject, published in the ' Blue Book' 

 of last year. In this report Dr. Thudichum shows, by the aid of 



