PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 193 



the two seemed very great, but upon investigation it would be found 

 that they gradually approached each other, and it took a skilful 

 microscopist to determine sometimes to which of the two kingdoms 

 an individual belonged. Formerly the power of motion was con- 

 sidered the characteristic of an animal, but then it was known that 

 some plants possessed that power. Histological inquiry had rendered 

 the matter complex by the discovery of a common character, namely, 

 the primary cell as a starting point for all organic beings. The 

 microscope had taught them that the simplest plants were composed 

 of cells, and also all others of the higher order were made up of such 

 cells, of course arranged according to the functions they had to per- 

 form. In the earliest condition of animals the cells were nearly the 

 same as those in plants. In the latter the cells continued present 

 throughout their growth, but in animals, except in those tissues called 

 cellular, they soon disappeared. The minute structure of the skeleton 

 of plants, and the lower order of animals, was a most interesting 

 study, and would amply repay them for the investigation, and he (the 

 Chairman) knew of none more calculated to make them forget time 

 and place. There was something so entrancing in the way Nature 

 gave up her wondrous secrets, that the mind seemed to be entirely 

 taken out of the world — the hours flew past as in a dream, and the 

 day became too short for the pleasant labour. An interesting lecture 

 on Pond Life was then delivered by Mr. R. Home, of Oldham, who 

 illustrated his remarks by means of a large picture thrown on a 

 screen by means of an oxyhydrogen lantern. The originals of the 

 objects of animal and vegetable life, depicted on the drawing, were 

 taken from a pond in Essex, but it was shown that every pond con- 

 tained more or less the same objects. Mr. Home explained those 

 phenomena in a scientific, popular, and even humorous manner. 



Oldham Microscopical Society. 



Eecently the members of the above Society held their sixth con- 

 versazione in the club-room of the Oldham Lyceum. After spending 

 an agreeable half-hour in conversation, and in the examination, under 

 the various microscopes lent by members, of objects illustrative of the 

 subject of the evening, the chair was taken by the President, Dr. A. Thorn 

 Thomson, and a paper read upon " Common Moulds " by Mr. Pullinger. 

 At its close some interesting discussion took place upon the question, 

 " How can we account for the presence of mould in the inside of 

 nuts, in the core of apples, and other unlikely places ?" which gave 

 the advocates and opposers of the theory of spontaneous generation 

 an opportunity of airing their peculiar notions thereupon. After 

 an inspection of a further supply of objects, the meeting was brought 

 to a close by the usual vote of thanks. The following is an abstract 

 of the paper : — 



The term " mould " has been applied generally to a whole host of 

 minute plants, belonging mostly to the natural orders Mucedines 

 and Mucorini, which include some of the great scourges of the day, 

 attacking and destroying our grape crops, our potato crops, our silk- 



