284 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



ment, perfection as to individual valves, or in the general brightness 

 and cleanliness of the mounts. 



He also brought for the inspection of the members a large collec- 

 tion of slides, kindly lent by Captain I'erry, of Liverpool, principally 

 selected diatoms, many being excessively rare and valuable. The 

 collection also included many Foraminifera, scientifically arranged, 

 and a beautifully-grouj)ed slide of spicules of Hyalonema. 



Mr. Tatem exhibited mounts of ant lion (^Myrmelion formicarium) 

 and of the tick of red deer. 



The Croydon Microscopical Club, 



Soiree. 



[We regret that this and other reports have stood over so long ; 

 but it was quite impossible to insert them earlier. — Ed. ' M. M. J,'] 



The second annual soiree under the auspices of the above Club, 

 was held on Wednesday evening, November 8th, 1871, in the Public 

 Hall, which presented the same gay and brilliant appearance as 

 characterized their first soiree last year. 



Appended is a list of the more noticeable objects sent for exhi- 

 bition : — ■ 



The President (Mr. H. Lee), in addition to six microscopes, con- 

 tributed two emeu's eggs, laid in the grounds of W. H. Peek, Esq., 

 M.P., of Wimbledon ; sections of a very fine ammonite, from the lias 

 of Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire; and casts of trout, painted by H. L. 

 Eolfe. His microscopic objects chiefly consisted of fossil wood in 

 coal ; fructification of marine algas ; crystals in colloid silica ; 

 stomach teeth of Nereis, a sea-worm; anatomy of star-fishes; and 

 embryo Crustacea. 



Mr. Frank Buckland sent for exhibition a skin of a Polar Bear, 

 recently shot by Captain Gray, in the Arctic regions. The pre- 

 served skin of the monster was 8 feet long, and more than covered the 

 large table on which it was spread. There were also a nondescript 

 monster, constructed by the Jajjanese of papier-mache and wood, with 

 a photograph of a similarly artificial animal ; and a bottle containing 

 a rat, preserved in spirits, whose history was a somewhat singular 

 one. It had pushed its head through a ham bone, and being unable to 

 extricate it, it lived for many months with the somewhat novel collar 

 around its neck. This formed the subject of two humorous contribu- 

 tions by Mr. Lee, to the columns of ' Land and Water,' in 1867, which 

 are well worthy of being reprinted, but which, of course, have no rank 

 in a purely Scientific Magazine. 



The treasurer to the club — Mr. J. W. Flower — was unavoidably 

 absent, but his son, Mr. J. Flower, exhibited a series of skulls of 

 quadrumana, or the monkey tribe. 



Dr. Carpenter's collection of flints found in Croydon, attracted a 

 large share of attention. In some of these flints were to be found 

 beautiful specimens of the echinus. Here were also fossils from the 



