162 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
arose upon one or two alterations suggested by those present; 
but Mr. Piper remarked that he had already experimented in the 
direction indicated by some of the speakers, and found that 
the cabinets made in the form and of the materials of those now 
introduced were the most useful and practicable that could be 
made. One objection, as to the slightness of the card-board ma- 
terial of which the cabinets were made, he disposed of in a very 
summary manner, by throwing one of the trays which had been 
handed round the room upon the floor, and jumping violently 
upon it several times. This experimentum ecrucis, as the Chairman 
remarked, was decisive; and on the tray being handed round 
again quite intact and unharmed in any way, the inventor was 
loudly cheered. 
Mr. J. Newton Tomxtys, F.R.C.S., read a paper describing a 
travelling or pocket microscope invented by Mr. William Moginie. 
(See ‘Trans.,’ p. 20.) One of the microscopes, and the various useful 
contrivances it embodied, was exhibited, and Mr. Tomkins re- 
marked that by its aid he had been able to distinguish the sharp 
and delicate markings of some of the highest test objects. Asa 
student’s microscope, he considered the instrument to be beyond 
all praise; but he thought it would also be a boon to micro- 
scopists generally, especially to those who devoted attention to 
microscopic studies in the field. 
Mr. Vartry also warmly eulogised the instrument and its 
belongings. A new arrangement of a dipping-bottle used in 
searching ponds had particularly attracted his attention. In this 
case the bottle was screwed firmly to the end of the telescopic 
rod, so as to enable it to be used as a kind of scoop or ladle in 
places where, from the nature of the object searched for, it could 
not be otherwise secured. 
Dr. BowErBank, who was received with great cheering, said 
he could not refrain from expressing the great pleasure he felt at 
being present once more at a meeting of the Society—a pleasure 
which he had been compelled to deny himself of late in conse- 
quence of the state of his health; but finding himself in London 
to-day, he had been unable to resist the temptation of attending 
the meeting: His pleasure on the occasion had been much en- 
hanced by having seen the beautiful little instrument which Mr. 
Tomkins had just described. He thought it a beginning of a 
movement in the right direction, as highly finished instruments 
were not within the reach of every one, and even those who pos- 
sessed such were not disposed to carry them into the field; and 
therefore the instrument before the meeting met a want which 
had too long been unsupplied. “I have watched the proceedings 
of the Society,” continued Dr. Bowerbank, “through its publica- 
tions, and I see how young and ardent members have arisen 
in our ranks, and how the microscope of this Society, instead 
being, as formerly, a mere toy, is becoming a real working tool 
in the hands of scientific men. The papers made public through 
