220 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
Ordinary Meeting, August 27 — Dr. John Matthews, E.R.M.S., 
President, in the chair. 
A paper was read by Mr. William Cole, M.E.S., on Sphoerularia 
Bombi, an entozobn parasitic in Humble-bees. This was first de- 
scribed by Leon Dufour in the £ Annales des Sciences Naturelles ’ 
for 183G, and subsequently formed the subject of two very instructive 
memoirs by Sir J ohn Lubbock, in the ‘ Natural History Review.’ 
Mr. Cole gave a resume of the facts connected with the anatomy and 
morphology of this extraordinary creature. It is found in the abdo- 
minal cavity of the bee, in the form of a white worm-like animal 
nearly an inch long and thickly covered with wart-like projections or 
spherules, whence the name of the genus. Mr. Cole drew particular 
attention to the great abundance of the parasite in females of Bombus 
terrestris during the past spring. In several instances every indi- 
vidual examined contained one or more specimens, and as many as 
thirty-three were once found in a single bee. The young nematoids 
also occurred in immense numbers — as many as from 50,000 to 
100,000 in each insect. Near the end of each adult Sphoerularia is 
invariably attached a small nematoid worm, which was described by 
Sir John Lubbock as a male, passing an epizoic existence on the body 
of his giant consort. By Schneider, however, it is held to be the true 
female — the immense structure to which it is affixed being regarded 
by him as a prolapsed uterus. Mr. Cole gave a brief account of the 
facts on both sides of the question, and after sketching the probable 
life history of the young Sphocrularioe, pointed out the direction 
which investigation should take in an endeavour to solve the very 
interesting questions connected with this anomalous creature, which 
he recommended to the careful consideration of members in search of 
a subject. The paper was illustrated by enlarged figures, and specimens 
under the microscope. 
The Fairmount Microscopical Society of Philadelphia. 
This Society held its regular meeting on Thursday evening, April 
15, 1875. The main topic of the evening was the kidney and its 
diseases, particularly “ Bright’s disease.” It was illustrated by many 
fine and unique sections of the human kidney, stained by means of 
carmine. The explanations, volunteered by a member of the Society, 
were remarkably clear and to the point. Quite a series of drawings, 
made direct from the instrument, of urinary deposits, w T as shown at the 
same time, tracing the course of the above disease in several patients 
under treatment by the demonstrator . — Cincinnati Medical News. 
Memphis Microscopical Society. 
At the meeting of this Society, April 3, several matters of in- 
terest were presented. A communication was received from corre- 
sponding member, E. W. Morley, of Hudson, Ohio, giving his method 
of measurement, under, very high magnification, of the striae on the 
