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PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
Queeett Microscopical Club. 
Ordinary Meeting, May 28. — Dr. Matthews, F.R.M.S., President, 
in the chair. 
Mr. M. Hawkins Johnson read a paper" On the Organic Structure 
of Flint and of Meerschaum.” He referred to numerous examinations 
of the nodules found in sedimentary deposits, the structure of which, 
he said, might easily be made visible by staining thin splinters with 
acetate of rosaniline. The method adopted was to take a slice ^ inch 
thick, to boil it in water to expel the air, then to boil it in a solution of 
acetate of rosaniline, dry it, saturate it with balsam, harden the 
balsam, and grind the sides, washing finally with oil of turpentine, but 
not covering the specimens with glass. Nitrate of silver and acetate 
of iron were stated to be sometimes even more successful than acetate 
of rosaniline, the object being to render one portion of the substance 
more opaque or more strongly coloured than the other. No less than 
fifteen substances were considered to possess a structure of a decidedly 
organic character, viz. : Meerschaum ; Kunkur of the Doab in India ; 
Phosphatic nodules of the Crag of Suffolk ; Menilite from Menil 
Montant, near Paris ; Septaria of London clay ; Race of the Woolwich 
beds ; Chalk flints ; Iron pyrites of Chalk ; Green-coated nodules of 
Chalk rock ; Phosphatic nodules of the Cambridge deposit ; Phosphatic 
nodules from the Gault ; the Oolitic bodies ; Ironstone in Coal-measure 
sandstones ; Chert of the Mountain Limestone ; Phosphatic nodules of 
the Lower Silurian strata of North Wales. In addition to this he had 
found that by the aid of acetate of rosaniline the pale green substance 
in the green marble of Connemara could be shown to be a very 
beautiful fossil sponge, as also the soluble silica rock from near 
Farnham in Surrey. 
The paper was followed by an animated discussion, in the course 
of which Mr. Lowne strongly contested Mr. Johnson’s views. 
Drawings and specimens of the stained substances were exhibited. 
Adelaide Microscope Club, South Australia.* 
The monthly meeting of the club was held on April 2, 1875. 
Mr. Smeaton presided. A new instrument by Crouch was exhibited ; 
the glass stage was much admired on account of its smooth gliding 
movements. Dr. Whittell exhibited a new form of diatom he had 
found in a collection from Edithburgh, S.A. He had been unable to 
find anything like it in the drawings available in the colony, or on 
Mdller’s typen platte, and promised to send it to England for identi- 
fication.f The Chairman then gave a short address on the subject of 
* Report supplied by Dr. Whittell, Adelaide. 
f [This specimen, which was forwarded to us by Dr. Whittell, has been sent 
to Mr. Kitton, who informs us that it somewhat resembles the specimen de- 
scribed by the Rev. E. O’Meara (‘ Quart. Jour. Mic. Science,’ New Series, vol. xi ), 
and which he calls Amphiprora ramosa. We believe, however, that Mr. Kitton 
thinks differently from Mr. O’Meara, and we shall probably have an expression 
of his decided views in an early number of this Journal. — E d. ‘ M. M. J.’j 
