EAST KENT NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. lOT 



East Kent Natural History Society. 



President, the Eev. John Mitchinson, D.C.L., &c., Oxon. ; 

 Honorary Secretary, George Gulliver, Esq., P.R.S. 



As its name imports, this Society is by no means confined to 

 microscopical work. But the name of the Honorary Secretary 

 will afford sufficient guarantee that both animal and vegetable his- 

 tology are well prosecuted; and of these departments we propose 

 to give reports. Indeed, the Society presents a remarkable sphere 

 of usefulness in the application of themicroscope to natural science, 

 as at the scientific meetings, which are held fortnightly at Can- 

 terbury, it is the usual course to make the dissections of animals 

 and. plants, and the microscopic demonstrations thereof, in the 

 presence of the members. 



Decemher Tth, 1870. — Living specimens of Trichodina and 

 Vorticellina were exhibited by Mr. Eullagar ; when the longitu- 

 dinal central muscle of VorticeUa was well shown by Mr. Sidney 

 Harvey. Mr. Gulliver gave practical demonstrations of the micro- 

 scopic structure of the so-called scales o^ Anguis fragilis, proving 

 that the dermal scales of this reptile are true bone and not horny 

 epidermis ; an important fact, as another evidence of the 

 lacertian affinities of this creature, since in true Ophidians the 

 scales are horny epidermis, and not bone. 



January IWi, 1871. — The branchiae and the circulation of the 

 blood were examined in some Entomostraca, and an explanation 

 of the difference between gills aud lungs was given, both in 

 vertebrates and invertebrates, and of the special function in 

 relation to respiration of the red blood-corpuscles of vertebrates. 



January 25i(7i.— Colonel Horsley gave some demonstrations of 

 plant-crystals — Raphides, Sphreraphides, and Crystal Prisms ; 

 whereupon Mr. Gulliver showed the very great importance of such 

 crystals, especially rhaphides, in taxonomy. Thus, for example, 

 in the British Flora, the shortest and sharpest diagnosis of the 

 order Onagraceee would be Calyeifioral Exogens abounding in 

 raphides ; of Galiacese, Corollitioral Exogens abounding in ra- 

 phides ; of Orchidacese, Gynandrous Endogens abounding in 

 raphides ; of Hydrocharidacese, Hydral Endogens destitute of 

 raphides. And similar exemplifications might be multiplied ex- 

 tensively, as may be seen in Mr. Gulliver's various memoirs in 

 the ' Popular Science Review,' Oct., 1865 ; ' Ann. Nat. Hist.,' 

 1861-65 ; ' Quart. Journ. Mic. Sci.,' 1864, 1865, 1866, and 1869 ; 

 and ' Seeman's Journ. Bot.,' 1861., 1866, 1867, and 1869. The 

 raphidiau character was represented as so eminently natural, so 

 easy to realise, and often so much more universal and funda- 

 mental than other single diagnostics, as to make it surprising 

 that systematists, still exclusively using the old diffuse and often 

 difficult characters, should not yet have taken advantage of it. 



