1880.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



73 



City, President of the New York 

 Microscopical Society, presented 

 the Society with a copy of The 

 American Qtiarterly Microscopi- 

 cal Journal, sent by the publishers. 



Dr. Geo. E. Blackham, of Dun- 

 kirk, N. y., gave the results of a 

 series of careful measurements of 

 the objectives of the best known 

 manufacturers. 



He had measured the actual am- 

 plifying power of the objectives at 

 ten inches from the front surface of 

 the front lenses ; the frontal dis- 

 tance ; the working distance ; 

 the clear aperture of the front 

 lens ; the diameter of the field ; 

 the flatness of the field ; the chro- 

 matic correction; also the number 

 of the diatom on Moller's balsam 

 test-plate, that could be clearly re- 

 solved by the lenses, with light 

 from a lamp and mirror, and the 

 number of the diatom on the same 

 plate that could be just glimpsed un- 

 der the same conditions, and lastly, 

 the number of lines per .001 of an 

 inch, which could be clearly resolved. 



This actual performance of the 

 lenses was compared with the de- 

 scriptions given by the different 

 makers, and so tabulated that the 

 comparisons could readily be made. 



Mr. C. C. Merriman, of Roches- 

 ter, N. Y., read the next paper, 

 which was on the " Preparation and 

 Mounting of Double-Stainings." 

 It called forth a lively discussion in 

 which Drs. Seller, Blackham, Rez- 

 ner. Prof. Smith, Mr. J. D. Hyatt, 

 and others participated. 



Following Mr. Merriman, Prof. 

 J. Edwards Smith gave a short de- 

 scription of a new microscope- 

 stand, which he stated had been de- 

 vised by himself and the manufac- 

 turer, during the last year. The 

 stand exhibited was a compact in- 

 strument, combining most of the 

 latest valuable improvements in the 

 microscope. 



Third Day. — Dr. Theodore 

 Deecke, of the State Lunatic Asy- 

 lum, at Utica, N. Y., addressed the 

 society upon "The Microscopical 

 Examination of the Nervous Cen- 

 ters." He exhibited some of his 

 wonderful sections of the entire 

 human brain, which must be seen 

 to be appreciated. With an instru- 

 ment of his own device, he had suc- 

 ceeded in cutting sections as thin as 

 the -^ of an inch, but thought 

 that those about the -^^ of an inch 

 were better adapted to microscopi- 

 cal examination. He cut the sec- 

 tions in a liquid by means of a 

 large knife, which was used with 

 a saw-like motion. In transferring 

 the sections from one liquid to 

 another, he used a sheet of blotting 

 paper. 



Prof. D. S. Kellicott read a sec- 

 ond paper " On certain Crustacege 

 Parasitic on Fishes from the Great 

 Lakes." It was finely illustrated 

 by drawings, on a large scale. 



The paper was a detailed descrip- 

 tion of the peculiarities of these 

 parasites. 



At this stage of the proceedings, 

 the Executive Committee handed 

 in their report on the Constitution. 

 The report was received and ac- 

 cepted. 



A Nominating Committee, con- 

 sisting of Dr. Blackham, Prof. 

 Tuttle, Prof. Kellicott, Dr. Ward, 

 Geo. E. Fell, J. D. Hyatt, and C. 

 M. Yorce, was appointed to nomin- 

 ate the officers for the coming ses- 

 sion. 



Dr. Lester Curtis and Mr. W. H. 

 Bulloch, on behalf of the " Illinois 

 State Microscopical Society," and 

 of the " Chicago Academy of Sci- 

 ences," invited the Society to hold 

 its next meeting at Chicago. Prof. 

 Albert II. Tuttle invited the So- 

 ciety to hold its next meeting at 

 Columbus, Ohio, and Mr. W'. H. 

 Brearley, of Detroit, Michigan, 



