146 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



them. Place them between two thin pieces of talc, and submit 

 them to the flame of a spirit-lamp. Some use thin glass to support 

 them when cleaning a quantity. I have burnt them in a small 

 platinum crucible with success. It is advisable to mount specimens 

 dry, and- also in balsam, for careful microscopic examination. Those 

 mounted dry show the markings most distinctly. There is one 

 difficulty which the slide-mounter meets with on his first essay, 

 and which I vv'ill briefly allude to, viz., retaining the object in its 

 proper place on the slide whilst the thin glass is being pressed 

 down on the balsam. Some operators place the thin glass on the 

 objects, and allow the balsam to flow gradually between the glasses 

 by capillary attraction. Professor Williamson employs a little gum 

 in the water which contains the Diatomaceae; this fixes them when 

 dry, and the balsam does not remove them. Some objects, such as 

 ForaminiferaJ, require a long soaking in spirits of turpentine to dis- 

 place the air from their chambers. By using an air-pump this 

 process is much facilitated. A solution of balsam in chloroform will 

 doubtless be an improvement in mounting this class of objects. It 

 is needless to take up the time of the section by entering minutely 

 into the details of mounting all the various objects which may be 

 met with in specimens of soundings. Those interested may consult 

 Quekett, Carpenter, and Hogg's works on the microscope ; and 

 Smith on Diatomacese. I must now apologise for taking up so 

 much time on a subject which many present may be conversant with. 

 P.S. — Since the above was written, several engravings, with de- 

 scriptions have appeared in the 'Mechanics' Magazine,' December 28, 

 1860, of the deep-sea-sounding apparatus invented and used on 

 board the Bulldog during the sounding expedition in the North 

 Atlantic Ocean, under the command of Sir F. L. M'Clintock, with 

 one of these machines. Twenty-four ounces of ooze was brought 

 up from a depth of 1,913 fathoms. 



Mr. Brothers presented to the section a very old microscope, 

 date unknown; he also exhibited the Actinophrys Eichornii, a species 

 of Melicerta, sea weed with Lepralia, &c. 



Mr. Hardman, of Davyhulme, presented three mounted specimens 

 of the wire-worm, and a number of dissectlng-needles for the use of 

 the members ; he also exhibited a mounted fly, one of the Panorpidse, 

 which he states feeds upon leaf-rolling caterpillars. The proboscis 

 and feet of the insect are peculiarly adapted for dragging its victims 

 from their concealment and holding them whilst extractins: their 

 juices, the feet being provided with combs similar to those of the 

 spider. 



Mr. R. D. Darbyshire presented a qviantity of mud, «fec., from the 

 washings of shells fromthe raised sea-bottoms at Uddevalla,in Sweden. 



Mr. Dancer exhibited a new '3-inch object-glass, v.dth a large and 

 flat field of view ; also specimens of gold quartz from Wales, large 

 Curculla, and other objects. 



Mr. Whalley exhibited some specimens of injections obtained 

 from German}', which were considered the best yet exhibited. 



