1C2 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



Microscopical Socii^ty of Victoria, Australia. 



The montlily meeting of the Microscopical Society of Victoria was 

 held May 28th, 1874, at the coroner's office, Prince's Bridge. The 

 chair was occupied by Mr. Ealph, and there was a moderate attendance 

 of members. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. 

 Mr. A. W. Howitt was presented as a visitor. Mr. Robert Robertson, 

 the hon. secretary, announced the receipt of an ' Extract from the 

 Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia,' from 

 Mr. Isaac Lea. Dr. Sturt presented ' Baker's Catalogue,' and a 

 German copy of a list, by B. Sturtz, of fossils and minerals obtainable 

 at Mr. Strong's, Queen Street, Melbourne. Dr. Bone, of Castlemaine, 

 a country member, attended, bringing with him an excellent 

 microscope — one of Negretti and Zambra's, of London, with some of 

 Ross's powers, and a choice and varied collection of objects. The 

 chairman also called attention to a neat and useful instrument — one 

 of Swift's make — which could be put in a small case and carried in 

 the pocket, so as to make examinations, at the patient's bed-side or 

 when travelling. 



Dr. Stiu't read a paper, on a pearlash deposit at Sebastopol, near 

 Ballarat. This substance was of a light texture, very porous, and 

 splitting somewhat easily into horizontal layers of a greyish colour. A 

 sample of it had been given to him by Mr. Lyons, and he intimated that 

 the Society would be pleased to receive and report upon any specimens 

 of a rare nature. Mr. Lyons had been using it as an ingi-edient of 

 his artificial manixres on account of the amount of potash it contained. 

 The surface of some of the layers is more or less covered with narrow 

 linear vegetable workings, and when its substance is broken up under 

 water these can often be found floating. Under the microscope these 

 are found to consist of vegetable cells almost coated by a layer of 

 small oval navicula, and are evidently the remains of narrow filing 

 fresh-water algae. About ten dilferent diatoms are found in the 

 deposit, together with spicules of a sponge. The latter was interesting, 

 as he was not aware of any fresh-water sponge having yet been 

 discovered in Victoria. No appearance of vascular tissue was ob- 

 servable, and he had no doubt, from the nature of the shells, that it 

 was formed in fresh water, probably a pond or lake. Among the 

 specimens found were one surirella, a few gallionellje, synedra (often 

 in bundles), gomphonema, and navicula. 



Dr. Sturt also read an account of microscopic examinations of air 

 made by Dr. Douglas Cunningham, of Calcutta. It was as follows : — 

 Distinct infusorial animalcules, their germs or ova, are almost entii'ely 

 absent from atmospheric dust, and even from many sj^ecimens of dust 

 collected from exposed surfaces. The cercomonads and amoebfe 

 appearing in certain specimens of rain-water, appear to be zoospores 

 developed from the mycelial filaments arising from common atmo- 

 spheric air. Distinct bacterife can hardly ever be detected among the 

 constituents of atmosj)heric dust, but fine molecules of uncertain nature 

 arc almost always present in abundance. They frequently appear in 

 specimens of rain-water, collected with all precautions to secure 



