NOTICES OF MEETINGS. 293 
induced it to be favourably regarded, and from 1754 it may be said to have 
prevailed, although Linnzeus treated the Zoophytes as animal plants, or plants 
growing by animal flowers. 
The only fresh-water Coelenterata are the Hydra and the Cordylophora 
lacustris, which was fully described by the lecturer. In conclusion, it was 
stated that although to microscopists it was no new lesson to find beautiful 
and instructive objects in the most lowly and minute forms, not the least 
interesting and worthy of attention were those to which reference had been 
made. 
After the’ lecture, a number of living organisms illustrative of the paper were 
exhibited, including S. puzzlla, C. sguamata, T. indivisa, Coryne inflata, A. 
viridis, and H. vulgaris, and mounted specimens of a number of Sertularia 
were also shewn. The meeting then resolved itself into the usual conversazione. 
LIVERPOOL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.—The Eighth Meeting of 
the 13th Session was held at the Royal Institution, Colquitt Street, on Friday, 
the 4th of November. The paper of the evening was read by the Rev. Henry 
Higgins, M.A., on the ‘‘ Sea-Lily, Pentacrinus,” of which the following is a 
igest :— 
‘The meridian of the Sea-Lilies, Pentacrini, seems to have been reached in 
the seas of the mountain limestone, where they covered thousands of square 
miles, and became constituents of sédimentary rocks many hundreds of feet in 
thickness. Their extreme beauty and complexity of structure, if attained by 
natural selection, points to a pedigree of immeasurable antiquity, concerning 
which nothing is known. The Sea-Lilies have been placed near the Polypes, 
but the latter are radiate in type, the former are annuloid: the latter have a 
good canal open to, or constituting, the body cavity: the former have a distinct 
good canal with oral and anal apertures: the latter have no neural regions: the 
former have a nervous system branching from a ring with pseudo-ganglia, the 
latter have thread-cells: the former are without thread-cells: the latter generally 
are composite: the former are always simple. The annuloid structure of the 
Sea-Lily has nothing whatever to do with the “ ringed ” appearance of the stem. 
The segments, which are five in number, are ‘‘ringed” in a horizontal plane 
like the figures on the dial of a watch laid ona table. This is true of all the 
Echinodermata. The Star-Fish is therefore otf a rayed animal. From an 
example of a ‘‘mend” in a fragment from the plume of a Sea-Lily, the sub- 
ject of the restoration of lost parts, led to the following remarks. How a 
speck of ‘‘ plasma” having from its position a special junction can take upon 
itself to change that junction, and charge itself with the duties attached to a 
fertilized ovum; at the same time having its embryological potency—modified 
so as exactly to suit the special requirements of a situation determined by an 
accident—is an enquiry from the threshold of which he that assumes to be 
scientifically rich must be sent empty away. It is, however, in the regions of 
the unknown that the noblest rewards of future observers lie hidden. Whether 
the highest prize may be the discovery of truth, or the habit of mind developed 
in the search after it—one thing is sure—nature is a field where honest toil 
never terminates in disappointment. 
At the conclusion of which the meeting resolved itself into a Conversazione, 
when the following subjects were illustrated :— 
Anacharis, in decay—with high power.........4. ..George F, Chantrell. 
Cabinet slid Esa recentenstesanace sss nies acetnent aucesme intaeiee Alfred Leicester. 
CPDSTATEMOATUCEE arena casa hedos ate no varie rer emee ata Arars\y dha rsecrieor, fvvoe 
Wesmids andy Diatomsemreccscswse-sncsescceecesctemaeeets George F’. Healey. 
DD TAEQTI SK «c/mepm de eatdy sosnta scacvesnsads aeeuscew aed reptingner. T. W. Bruce. 
WD 107 FLeSECHOM aedaetsacttoresecesesnenvureetceesnoemeaee Henry C. Beasley. 
WPI pteras SPEGles! Oly ner viciecoas+ senescence sonyereeuseeae W. H, Weightman. 
BGLAMUINera yy VATIOUSsercsetecasnaerec«ceseereeenits wseosstesede Cy. PROmpson. 
