NOTES AND QUERIES. 87 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
ALL Notes and Queries should be sent to Mr. George E. Davis, 
The Willows, Fallowfield, Manchester, before the 16th of 
each month, 
SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 1883. The current year’s subscriptions became 
due in Jan. last. In remitting the amounts, will subscribers 
kindly fill up the enclosed form ? 
THE MANCHESTER MicroscopicaAL Society. — The usual 
monthly meeting of the mounting section of this society was 
-held on Wednesday evening, February 14, at which Mr. Henry 
Hyde exhibited a specimen of Branchtostoma lanceolatus, a fish 
remarkable for the rudimentary condition of its organs. He also 
showed specimens, in preservative fluid, of the frog in all its 
stages of development, from the ovum to the perfect animal. 
Mr. W. Stanley then proceeded with mounting in glycerine 
jelly without boiling; the objects dealt with being the inflorescences 
of several typical mosses, the flowers of which he dissected and 
explained. 
In the senior division Mr. A. Hay was the demonstrator, his 
subject being “ Animal Tissues, and their Treatment,” in which 
he showed the various operations, such as preserving, hardening 
and softening, freezing, and embedding, necessary in the pre- 
paration of such tissues. 
Sections of the heel, kidney, cartilage, and bone, and also 
tongue of cat were cut, and stained, and mounted in balsam by 
Mr. Miles, and the slides distributed amongst the members 
present. 
At the January meeting of this society Mr. W. Blackburn, 
F.R.M.S., made some remarks on an address which Dr. Carpenter 
lately delivered at Montreal to the microscopical section of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the 
views explained therein as to the best object glasses for biological 
work. 
Dr. Webber followed with a communication on “Empty Ampli- 
fication.” 
Mr. Henry Hyde gave an account of the development and 
formation of the plant embryo, illustrated by diagrams and speci- 
mens. The paper dealt with numerous interesting points, such 
as the essential organs of the flower; the pollen substance and the 
growth of pollen-tubes containing the fertilizing element; the 
origin of the nucellus with the embryo-sac, and the nature of the 
