194 THE NORTHERN MICROSCOPIST. 
tains, and expressed their gratitude for the thoughtful generosity of the donors 
of the same to our Manchester Free Reference Library. 
MANCHESTER MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.—The ordinary monthly 
meeting was held in the Lecture Hall of the Mechanics’ Institution, on Thurs- 
day, July 7th. The President, Mr. John Boyd, in the chair. 
Mr. C. L. Cook, the honorary secretary, brought before the notice of the 
members a new form of microscope, made by Messrs. Armstrong Brothers of 
this city. The stand is specially designed for steadiness, and is well made. 
The application of the diaphragms for the admission of light is novel ; the body 
is furnished with a graduated draw-tube, and two good object glasses of one 
and a-half inches and one-sixth of an inch focus are supplied. ‘There are two 
eye-pieces and a bull’s-eye condenser on stand. The whole is packed in a 
mahogany case, and forms a capital portable instrument for the working 
microscopist. 
Dr. Tatham notified to the members the publication of a new edition of Car- 
penter’s work. He confessed he was sadly disappointed when going through 
the book to see so little improvement on the last edition. 
Mr. John B. Pettigrew read a paper on the Gnat and Mosquito. The paper 
was well illustrated by coloured diagrams and prepared slides. An abstract of 
this paper will appear in our next. 
Mr. Thos. Brittain followed with a description of a Day’s Ramble in Derby- 
shire. This paper was especially interesting to microscopists, as specimens of 
the objects named had been gathered, prepared, and mounted by the reader. 
These were much appreciated by the members present. Mr. Brittain said it 
would be well if the members reported to the society from time to time the re- 
sults of their rambles. He intended to doso asa guide to their younger students, 
that they might, through the medium of THE NORTHERN MICROSCOPIST, know 
where to go and what to look for. My ramble on the present occasion, he con- 
tinued, began at Miller’s Dale, on my arrival there from Manchester by a 
Midland train, about half-past ten o’clock a.m. On leaving the valley I took 
the old road along which the telegraph poles are carried, direct to Tideswell, 
pronounced Tidzy by the natives. On ascending the hill I frequently turned 
round to look back upon the charming Miller’s Dale I was leaving behind me. 
From the top of the hill onwards to Tideswell, about three miles, is a wild 
open country, not very interesting. Tideswell is noted for its remarkable fine 
old church, which contains some interesting old monuments. The town con- 
tains about 2,000 inhabitants, and in the days of hand-loom weaving was a 
prosperous place. At present it wears the appearance of decay. All along the 
way I had been looking right and left at the botany of the district, but with not 
very satisfactory results. Betwixt Miller’s Dale and Tideswell I had not met 
with that common but very beautiful cluster cup on the coltsfoot known as 
cidium compositarum var. tussilaginis. On the old walls at Tidswell I found 
the interesting little fern Auta muraria wall rue. On the high hills betwixt 
Abney and Hathersage I was delighted to find an excellent specimen of the 
nettle cluster-cup “czdium urtice. Ihave only found it once before in Derby- 
shire, when I found it in a wood near Haddon Hall. I tried hard to find other 
specimens of the nettle cluster-cup but in vain. The coltsfoot one was in great 
plenty all around me and in fine condition. As I approached Hathersage I met 
with an excellent crop of the beautiful Uvomyces intrusa on the lady’s mantle, 
Alchemilla vulgaris. » After describing the Hope Valley—one of the most beau- 
tiful in England—Mr. Brittain said that at Hathersage he found a premature 
development of the thistle rust. The early fruit of this fungus is in the form of 
Uredo spores, Uredo cirsit, the perfect fruit being Puccinia syngenesiarum. 
This fungus is to be found very plentifully, and in better condition later on in 
the season. Concluding, Mr. Brittain said that if any of his hearers cared to 
follow his example and enter Derbyshire over Abney Moor to Hope Dale, they 
