"uL,*Ferrim'] PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 107 



was in his opinion important to consider tlie relative position of tlie 

 spicules, not only to each other, bi;t also to the animal itself. 



Mr. Kent replied, and the President proposed a vote of thanks to 

 Mr. Kent, observing at the same time how the paper illustrated the 

 well-known truth that nature is constant in her law, but infinite in 

 her modifications. The endless variety in the leaves of trees is hardly 

 more striking than the varied structure of the spicula of the Gorgonije, 

 which clearly are characteristic of genera and species. To arrive at 

 any law of formation would involve very difficult but interesting 

 inquiries. 



The meeting was then adjourned until the 9th of February, which 

 will be the anniversary. The officers for the ensuing year will be 

 elected, and the President will deliver an address. 



Donations to the Library and Cabinet from December 8th, 1869, 

 to January 12th, 1870 :— 



From 



Land and Water. Weekly Editor. 



Society of Arts Journal. Weekly Society. 



Scientiiic Opinion. Weekly Editor. 



Nature. Weekly Editor. 



Tlie Student Publisher. 



Journal of the Linnean Society Society. 



Annual Keport of the Brighton and Sussex Natural 



History Society Thos. W. Wonfor^ Esq. 



Certain Butterfly Scales characteristic of Sex. By 



Thos. W. Wonfor. 2 Parts Author. 



The Chemical News. 4 Parts W. T. Suffolk, Esq. 



The Canadian Jom-nal. 



Popular Science Review. No. 34 Publisher. 



Journal of the Quekett Club Club. 



A Photo-lithograph of Diatoms Pev. Thos. Wiltshire. 



One Dozen Slides of Bone Sections Pev. Thos. If. Browne. 



Walter Tebbitt, Esq., was elected a Fellow and M. Mouchet an 

 Honorary Fellow of the Society. 



Walter W. Eeeves, 



Assist. -Secretary, ^c. 



Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. 

 Microscojpical and Natural History Section. 



December 6th, 1869. — John Watson, Esq., President of the Section, 

 in the chair. 



Mr. W. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.K.S., was elected a member of the 

 Section. 



Mr. Charles Bailey read a paper " On Pollen ; considered as an Aid 

 in the Differentiation of Species." [This paper will be found among 

 our articles.] 



Mr. J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., read a short paper on some of the new ' 

 Hydro-Carbon compounds from which he had obtained very beautiful 

 polarizing objects for the microscope. These were exhibited to the 



