122 Transactions of the \^^^, i\'!ShT'mo! 



hitherto been supposed, — that it is, in point of fact, a mere matter 

 of chance, a mere question of conditions, whether a particular germ 

 shall finally be exhibited as a true animal or a true vegetable. But 

 this speculation on the most minute forms of existence ought to be 

 supported by evidence which substantiates the hypothesis. Other- 

 wise, in spite of the novelty which may be attractive to younger 

 philosophers, the old faith will maintain its ground, that animal or 

 vegetable life is in no case produced except from germs of individuals 

 of the same species. 



At our December meeting Professor Rymer Jones favoured us 

 with a short extemjyore account of deep-sea dredging. This labo- 

 rious operation is now carried on with equal assiduity and success. 

 Ehrenberg, as Professor Owen states, had discovered that the 

 substance of the greensands in stratified deposits, from the Silurian 

 to the Tertiary periods inclusive, is composed of the casts of the 

 interior of the microscopic shells of Polycystinege and Foraminifera. 

 But many soundings now brought up from various parts of the 

 deep sea consist chiefly of similar microscopic polythalamous shells, 

 mingled with a greensand composed of casts of Foraminifera. 

 Therefore the mode in which a deposit was made at the bottom of 

 the deep primeval ocean of the Silurian period is illustrated by that 

 which the microscope has demonstrated to take place under similar 

 conditions at the present day. 



Thanks to the monthly imhlication of our 'Proceedings,' I am 

 spared the regret of my predecessor, who naturally complained that 

 in preparing his address he had not the advantage of perusing the 

 papers communicated at the two preceding meetings. The papers 

 are now posted up to the day, and the Journal for this month con- 

 tains the fom- papers read in abstract at the meeting in January. 

 The last of these is a long and most instructive monograph by Mr. 

 Kent, " On the Calcareous Spicula of Gorgonaceae, their Modifica- 

 tion of Form, and the Importance of their Characters as a Basis for 

 Generic and Specific Diagnosis." It is only very recently that natu- 

 rahsts have availed themselves of this new basis for a natural 

 system of classification, and it is cheering to an old observer to see 

 the tact with which a young microscopist exhibits Nature's modifi- 

 cations under Nature's law. Mr. Kent's paper, with nearly 100 

 charming illustrations of his subject, most of them heretofore un- 

 figured, is a boon to microscopists, and stamps something far beyond 

 a mere money value on the ' Monthly Microscopical Journal ' for 

 February. 



Our thanks are due to Mr. Browning for two papers on the 

 Spectroscope, and to our Hon, Secretary, Mr. Hogg, for his results 

 of spectrum analysis. In the reported discussion on Mr. Hogg's 

 paper, I should be glad to place absorption hands on a few expres- 

 sions used by Mr, Bay Lankester, as their absence would add force 



