160 MICROSCOPICAL MEMORANDA. 



Gomphonema paradoxa. Greville. Frequent on the Irish coasts. 



Isthmia obliquata (Diatoma obliquetum, Lyngbye). This beautiful 

 object occurs abundantly in one or two places in the North of Ireland, 

 but is very local. It is in perfection in July and August. 



Fragilaria pertinalis. Lyngbye, Collected in the county West- 

 meath, on Belvidere Lake, adhering to aquatic grasses in August. 



Licmophora flabellata. Agardh. This, when well displayed, is one 

 of the most beautiful microscopic objects in the whole order of Algse 

 (Agardh), or Infusoria (Ehrenberg). 



Diatoma fasciculatum. Agardh. Frequent on the Irish coast : at- 

 tached to other Algae. 



Topping's Objects illustrative of the Process of Felting. We have 

 recently received from Mr. C. M. Topping (whom we had occasion to 

 recommend to the attention of microscopists at page 16 of our Journal) 

 a set of twelve slides, containing the hairs of various animals, the fur or 

 wool of which is used for felting. The objects are numbered according 

 to their tendency to felt, and, independent of their being generally in- 

 teresting as objects of structural beauty, they are the more so to those 

 particularly interested in the subject as a branch of manufacture. We 

 recommend the set to all classes of observers. 



We observe that Mr. Topping uses strips of mahogany veneer, (in- 

 stead of slips of glass) with a hole bored through the centre for the 

 glass to fix the object upon. This is a decided improvement over the 

 old plan. Editor. 



Organic Beings in Mineral Waters. Dr. Lankaster communicated 

 some additional observations on the existence of organic beings in mi- 

 neral waters (Athen. No. 674). He had found the Conferva nivea of 

 Dillwyn in the sulphur spring on the Water of Leith, near Edinburgh. 

 He had also found it in the wells of Moffat in Dumfriesshire, Gillesland in 

 Northumberland, and Middleton and Croft in Yorkshire. At Moffat he 

 found great quantities of the substance called glairine, and was con- 

 vinced of its organic nature. At Moffat also he found a pink deposit 

 in the drains outside the wells, and, on submitting it to the action of the 

 microscope, he found that it was produced by an animalcule, but much 

 smaller in size than those which produced the coloured sediments of 

 Harrowgate and Askern. It had the characters of a Monas, and was not 

 more than 15 ^ 00 of an inch in diameter. Athenaum, Aug. 7, 1841. 



Insects voided with Urine. The specimens kindly forwarded us by 

 Dr. R. S. Hopper, of Leeds, which are stated to have escaped in large 

 quantities per urethram from a female, appear to belong to the larva of a 

 Dipterous insect of the genus Stratiomis (Westw. Classif. Vol. II, p. 551). 

 The specimens are referred for further investigation. Editor. 



