1881.J 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



115 



there is to be a large exhibition of 

 scientific apparatus and collections, 

 which will be continued over through 

 the Exposition, to compete for a 

 special premium list. The Exposi- 

 tion Commissioners this year offer 

 medals and awards for chemicals, 

 chemical and physical apparatus, mi- 

 croscopes, engineering instruments, 

 and various objects in natural history. 

 For the best display of microscopes 

 and accessories a gold medal is of- 

 fered ; and for the best set of slides, 

 not less than fifty in number, a silver 

 medal. Certificates of superior merit 

 will also be awarded for the best 

 microscope-stand, the best object- 

 glass, and the best polarizing appar- 

 atus. As there will, undoubtedly, be 

 a very large attendance at the meet- 

 ings of the Association, it will be for 

 the interest of manufacturers and deal- 

 ers in microscopes to show their in- 

 struments. Some makers have already 

 signified their intention to exhibit, 

 and there is every prospect of a bril- 

 liant and novel exposition. The dis- 

 play during the Association meeting 

 is to be in charge of the Department 

 of Science and Arts, of the Ohio 

 Mechanic's Institute. F. W. C. 



A Prize for Microscopical Work. 

 — Dr. E. P. Murdock, the Curator of 

 Rush Medical College, of Chicago, 

 has informed us that in order to stim- 

 ulate more interest in the study, and 

 greater efficiency in the practical 

 work of microscopy, Mr. W. H. 

 Bulloch, of Chicago, has offered an 

 annual prize of $50 for five years, 

 in the form of a microscope stand, to 

 the student from any chartered col- 

 lege in Chicago, who passes the 

 best examination in the theory and 

 practice of microscopy, at the time 

 of his graduation. The prize is to 

 be awarded on competitive examina- 

 tion, conducted by a committee of 

 competent microscopists. 



The following gentlemen have con- 

 sented to act as the examining com- 

 mittee : Prof. L N. Danforth, Rush 

 Medical College ; Prof. Charles 



Adams, Chicago Homoeopathic Col- 

 lege ; Prof. Lester Curtis, Chicago 

 Medical College ; Prof. E. S. Bastin, 

 Chicago University ; Prof. E. B. Stu- 

 art, Cor. Sec. III. State Microscopical 

 Society. 



o 



Buffalo Microscopical Club. — 

 We have received a pamphlet of twen- 

 ty-seven pages, containing an account 

 of the Annual Meeting of this Club, 

 held last February. The report of 

 the Secretary, Mr. Fell, shows that 

 the fifth year of the organization has 

 been one of success and prosperity. 

 The Club has no stated admission- 

 fee or dues, but the expenses are met 

 by voluntary contributions from the 

 members. There are thirty-two mem- 

 bers. A number of important scien- 

 tific articles have been read during 

 the year. The address of the retir- 

 ing President, Prof. D. S. Kellicott, is 

 printed in full. It begins with some 

 remarks and suggestions about the 

 constitution, organization and work 

 of microscopical societies, after which 

 follows an interesting, historical ac- 

 count of microscopy in Buffalo. 

 o 



Animals or Plants. — In his val- 

 uable work, the " Manual of the In- 

 fusoria," Mr. Saville Kent has placed 

 the so-called Myxomycetes in the 

 animal kingdom. These peculiar or- 

 ganisms, in one stage of their exist- 

 ence, consist of an apparently struc- 

 tureless mass of living jelly, which 

 spreads, by an amoeboid motion, over 

 the matrix upon which it grows. 

 Such masses of contractile, living- 

 matter are known under the general 

 name, plasmodium. Long ago De 

 Bary and Cienkowski maintained 

 that the organisms in question were 

 animals, but they have lately been 

 almost universally regarded as fungi. 

 Mr. M. C. Cooke, in Grevillea^ has 

 made a rather savage attack upon 

 Mr. Kent's position, and in reply Mr. 

 Kent has published an article entitled 

 " The Myxomycetes or Mycetozoa ; 

 Animals or Plants ? " in the Popular 

 Science Review. We regard Mr. 



