38 



KN()\VLi:i)r,r: 



Jam'arv. 1912. 



pliotoKrapliiiiK opa<nii; spceiinpiis willi tlu- viilical illiiiniiialor 

 H is usual to remove the illiiininaliiiK syslciii from tlu- oplic 

 axis to tlic sitic of ihv microscopo, and this iifccssilatcs a 

 s|H'cial ImmicIi or support, l)iit with the riglit allele prism 

 the ilhimiiialiii»; system has only to be raised to tlie same 

 heit;ht as the prism, which can be ilone in a few minutes. 



ROY.\L MICROSCOI'ICAL SOCIKTV.— November 15th, 

 Mr. C. I". Konsselct. the curator, exhibited and described an 

 old microscope beariuK the name of .Andrew Prilchard. whiih 

 Capt. \Varrin»,'loii haj discovered 

 in India and had presented to 

 the Society. 



It was probably made by 

 Andrew Ross for Frifchartl. who 

 sold microscopes m.ide for him 

 by Ross and Hu^h Powell. The 

 date to be assigned to it would 

 be between l>SJ4.ind 1838. Mr. 

 Rousselet also described another 

 microscope from India, lent by 

 Mr. A. H. Lethbridge. It was 

 a combination of a pocket tele- 

 scope and microscope. The 

 eyepiece of the telescope being 

 renio\ed and screwed into a 

 "drum" form of stand consti- 

 tuted a low-power microscope of 

 itself, and on removing the field 

 lenses of the eyepiece " French- 

 buttons " can be screwed on 

 giving higher magnifications. 

 The name inscribed on the 

 apparatus is Charles Nephew 

 and Company, Calcutta. The 

 date is uncertain, but would be 

 some time after introduction of 

 the ■■ French-button." 



The Society exhibited, under 

 Microscopes, a number of slides ^— 

 of Rock-sections from .\ustra- S> 

 lasia, presented by Mr. H. J. 

 Grayson and cut by him by 

 his improved apparatus. Mr. J. 

 E. Barnard read a paper on 

 " A Geometric Slide Photo- 

 micrographic Apparatus." Mr. 



Barnard said the apparatus was I'iGl' 



designed on the principle of the 



geometric slide throughout, as enunciated by Lorii Kelvin and 

 Tate. The base of the apparatus was formed of two castings 

 designed on the girder principle, braced together at each end 

 and in the middle. The portion to carry the microscope was 

 also formed by a pair of castings braced together in the same 

 way. Great rigidity was obtained, and the whole apparatus 

 would move together if subjected to shock or vibration. Rods 

 were fastened down on the top of the castings to support the 

 apparatus, and the camera slid along these on two V grooves 

 on one side and on a plane surface on the other side. The 

 camera was supported on vertical rods fixed on the geometric 

 slides. The apparatus could be used equally well as a 

 horizontal or vertical camera, or at an angle of 45'. 



A paper on Fr/rfcn'c/a, by Rev. Hilderic Friend, F.L.S.. was 

 read. The genus Fridcricia was created by Mich.aelson, in 

 1889, to receive certain species of Knchytraeids, eleven in 

 number, possessed of dorsal pores, and having setae of 

 unequal lengths. In 1895, Beddard reckoned twelve species, 

 but not one was known as British. Moore, Friend and 

 others added to the list which in 1900 stood at twenty-one. 

 Bretschor, Issel and others then took up the study, and at the 

 present time some seventy or eighty species of Fridcricia are 

 known to science. The largest is F. nianna Friend, which 

 has been found in England, Ireland and Scotland, but so far 

 has not been reported abroad. The author, whose researches 

 into this genus began in 1896, here reports no fewer than 

 thirty species found up to the present time in the British Isles, 



Some of thes<! are new to science, and a scries of keys is 

 appended to enable the student readily to distinguish the 

 allied species. 



The following were elected ( )rdinary l"ellows of the 

 Socic-ly: — H.nuilton Harlridge. Chas. My. llnish, Malcolm 

 F. .MacGregor. Lewis Noad, Henry Blaleh Wells. 



yLFKKTT MICROSCOFICAL CLUB.— November 28th. 

 Or. J. J. Simpson gave a lecture on "The Relationship 

 between Insects and Disease." In the animal kingdom no 

 group is more intimately con- 

 nected with the bionomics of the 

 world than that designated by 

 the general name " Insects," 

 and no group is so prolific in 

 its effects both for good and evil. 

 The part played by insects in 

 connection with disease is three- 

 fold. (II as actual parasites: 

 (2) as mechanical transmitters ; 

 (31 as intermediate hosts of 

 pathogenic organisms. Speci- 

 mens of each of these classes 

 were exhibited and described. A 

 list was given, under the third 

 group, of the diseases transmitted 

 and the hosts responsible for 

 their spread. To Mosquitos are 

 due Malaria. Yellow-fever. Ele- 

 phantiasis and Dengue in man : 

 Horse-sickness in Transv.aal. and 

 Filariasis in man. The Tsetse 

 fly is responsible for Sleeping- 

 sickness in man and Nagan.a 

 in horses and cattle. The 

 Tabanidae cause Surra in cattle; 

 Stoiiioxys. Mai de Caderas in 

 horses ; Hippobosca. Galzieht 

 in cattle: Fleas transmit Plague: 

 Sand- flies. Pappataci Fever in 

 man ; Ticks, Relapsing Fever in 

 man, and Texas. Redwater, 

 Khodesian. Bihar\-, and other 

 fe\ers in cattle, horses and 

 sheep, Spirochaetosis in fowls 

 and Malignant Jaundice in dogs. 

 And who can sa\- how man>- 

 K 48. moie ? Several of the more 



important of these diseases 

 were described at length and an interesting account was given 

 of the prophylactic measures adopted. One of the first 

 problems to be solved in this connection is the distribution 

 and life history of all blood-sucking insects, an enormous task, 

 but one that is being slowly and surely accomplished. 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



By Hrcii Boyd \V.\tt, M.B.O.C. 

 WILLOW GROUSE IN SCOTLAND.— Last shooting 

 season (1911) three white Grouse were shot at Glendaruel, 

 .-\rgyllshire. and seem to have been something of a puzzle 

 to the shooting party at the time. It is explained, however, 

 that on the neighbouring estate of Glenstriven some Rypcr 

 iDalripii. Swedish) or Willow Grouse {Ltigopiis ttThiis) 

 which had been sent from the far north of Sweden, were put 

 down some years ago in the month of .April. They were 

 placed in an enclosure on the hill with one wing slightly 

 clipped, but they soon escaped and were scattered about the 

 country. The remains of two or three, killed by hawks, were 

 found; and those now reported shot are probably others which 

 survived till then,— (T/u- Field, 18th November, 1911. page 

 1129), Our native Red Grouse (L. scoticiis) and the Willow 

 Grouse have separate geographical ranges, but they are of 

 common origin and the last-named might well establish itself 

 as a breeding species in Scotland, given the opportunity, 

 to which ornithological purists are strongly averse. It has. 



I 

 I 



