NOTICES OF MEETINGS. 137 
structure is much more prominently brought out. Thus when two colours are 
used in staining a section of a young stem of oak, the woody portion of the 
stem will take one colour, and the pith and bark another, and this selection of 
colour is of considerable value in studying the structure and determining the 
constituents of astem. The lecturer gave a detailed account of the processes 
of single and double staining in several colours, illustrating his paper by the 
exhibition of various objects treated in this way. The meeting terminated with 
a vote of thanks to Mr. Stiles, proposed by the president and seconded by 
Mr. Branson. 
LIVERPOOL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.—The fifth meeting of the 
present session was held at the Royal Institution, Colquitt-street, on Friday, 
May 6th. The president, W. Carter, Esq., M.D., gave a short account of the 
experiments and observations of Professor Tommassi-Crudelli, by which he had 
demonstrated that intermittent fever was due to the presence in the blood, of an 
organism of the genus Bacillus. He remarked that the experiments seemed to 
him rigidly to conform to the conditions demanded by scientific accuracy, and to 
establish beyond question the relation between the disease and the organism. 
The life-history of this latter had been carefully worked out ; it had been shown 
to possess distinctive morphological and biological characters by which it was 
capable of being recognised ; and by its introduction into the bodies of animals, 
living quite remote from malarious districts, typical attacks of ague had been 
induced. This was one of the latest examples of the successful application of 
microscopic research to the elucidation of disease. After this communication 
the following objects were exhibited :— 
PAT hae ORT Ta eres eee eo AP ORT PEPEL OP PEE OLECE OP ECE Thomas C. Ryley. 
COZ AP OPHOFANACUSTT ES: aan ondacoesseenieace sacs eendcnateretes Charles Botterill. 
WD iAtOMIS——VATIOLUS secacet Senne onmeciseeadelsee cise snes seeee Thomas W. Bruce. 
TG AN EG USC oa deanei tases e'elosissteleoslsine selene cncdce se ceveceasetee Dr. McClelland. 
EOP ROBUSICHYSLQULMUS s ox ceicloen ce sate ose ss cs sooses J. T. Norman Thomas. 
VIC LECETLCUT ULREMSaeienea seals ercleseasidsaeeacervescce scenes A. T. Smith, Junr. 
Wins cellam cous: eccacdeaeesstedsadcece tsccrrercteeecesaeer Rev. Wm. Banister. 
CONRLHOCUTUPLUS THTMULUS V0.0 5. eiodenieecsdeosnasscanct aes tert H. C. Beasley. 
HONG OM en csr ston eUer ec sone qeducesusrisigecuce saeiete Meee H. M. Bennett. 
SApLOlesiiiayy ccc mond ca tishaeracna-sseeeeee cease ceccee careers H. R. Boult. 
MATING AE OLYZOA, Ue cetlben veces ones opasetnade cciecsioereataedecee cence Joeu.nbatle 
DUUSED AN OLA CEO nate csnass ests series shecseedneessencerecnasees sees William Oelrichs. 
MANCHESTER MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.—At the monthly meet- 
ing of the mounting class in connection with the Manchester Microscopical 
Society, held in the board-room of the Mechanics’ Institution, Mr. W. Chaffers 
was watched with considerable interest whilst performing the operation of 
extracting the palates from several specimens of the Dog-winkle, (Purpura 
lapillus ) a creature very common on our coasts, and worthy of notice from the 
fact that from this animal was procured the famous purple dye of the ancients. 
The palate is a fine thread-like organ, extending from the mouth backwards 
into the body and stomach of the animal. In structure it may be described 
as a cartilaginous ribbon or toothed membrane, the teeth traversing the mem- 
brane in close-set rows the entire length of the palate, and as it becomes worn 
and unserviceable at one end is uncoiled and pushed forward at the other, to 
supply the place of the portion worn away. 
Mr. J. L. W. Miles mounted some decoloured leaves in balsam, to show how 
simple and easy this operation really is when fluid balsam and benzole is used. 
Air bubbles, the great bugbear of tyros in mounting, and even to older hands, 
is simply the result either of nervousness, error in manipulation, or of inattention 
to the preliminary preparation of the object to be mounted. In Mr. Miles’s 
opinion the application of heat should be avoided as being unnecessary and 
