1889.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 19 



some one not a member of the Society. This gentleman also referred 

 to a statement recently made by a member of the Royal Society to the 

 effect that the normal blood corpuscle of man was not bi-concave, but 

 that this form was given to it by mechanical action, chemical re-agents, 

 and the like. No proof of this was offered in the statement, however, 

 and the latter did not meet with the endorsement of those of the mem- 

 bers who had examined blood under all conditions. Until proof is given 

 there seems to be no reason for giving up the hitherto accepted belief in 

 the bi-concavity of the normal human blood disc. 



November I, 1888. — The attendance constituted about two-thirds of 

 the membership. Rev. F. B. Carter gave an account of some obser- 

 vations which he had made upon vegetable protoplasm. The results 

 were very remarkable, and seemed to point to a common starting point 

 for animals and vegetables. 



Some of the protoplasm which he had seen emerge from an un- 

 doubted vegetable cell assumed, after a time, the well-known amoeboid 

 motion, and he had watched the slide for several hours while this pro- 

 cess of change or development was going on. This seems to go further 

 than Schultze, who states that there is, chemically, no difference be- 

 tween animal and vegetable protoplasm ; this latter, however, cannot 

 be considered as conclusive proof of their identity since there are various 

 chemical substances among the carbon compounds which are similar 

 in chemical constitution, but differ widely in their physical properties. 

 The ever beautiful movement of protoplasm called Cyclosis in the cells 

 of plants was also shown in a specimen of Nitella. Though strictly 

 vegetable in every sense of the term, this circulation is always suggest- 

 ive of the movement of blood corpuscles through the capillaries of the 

 animal. 



November 13, 1888. — Meeting held at the residence of Rev. Mr. 

 Carter, Montclair, who gave a paper upon the " Desmids : their life 

 history and classification." After the reading of the paper, a variety 

 of the forms were illustrated by means of the lantern. Among them 

 were seen Vampirella, Protococcus pluviatus, Cosmarium* Micros- 

 terias, and Eurastriim. The conjugation of two Closteria was shown. 

 Bi-lateral symmetry was also well illustrated by many of the specimens. 

 Filamentous forms were also shown, with the caution not to mistake 

 for one desmid a group or colony of these plants joined together. 



Iron City Microscopical Society, Pittsburgh, Pa. 



October 22. — The annual meeting for election of officers and trans- 

 action of business was held at headquarters in the Pittsburgh Library 

 rooms. There was a large attendance of active members, many of 

 whom came laden with cases of instruments or carefully prepared 

 specimens for inspection. Before and after the business session these 

 specimens were examined and discussed in an informal manner. 



Among the objects shown was a rare and beautiful animal, Stepha- 

 noceros eichkornii, and also a polyzoa or coral-like animal, alcyo- 

 nella, both from a pond near Edgewood. Also cyclosis, or flow of 

 protoplasm in the cells of a Chara, a submerged water plant from New 

 Brighton, .stained section of human scalp, blood corpuscles, with a 

 number of zoophytes and other similar objects. 



Mr. Mellor. the President for the last three years, announced the busi- 



