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22 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [Jan 
first in England to devote attention to the important sub- 
jects of forestry and agriculture ; the Royal Agricultural 
Society not originating until 1838. It was the Society of 
Arts also that laid the foundation for the Institute of Civil 
Engineers and its offshoots. At the Society of Arts in 
1841 there was formed the Chemical Society, from which 
arose the Institute of Chemistry in 1877. The same birth- 
place may be claimed for the Society of Chemical Indus- 
try and the Sanitary Institute. Similarly originated were 
the City Guilds Institute and even the Science and Art 
Department at South Kensington, though the latter was 
influenced by the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Photo- 
graphic Society grew from an exhibition of photographs, 
the first of its kind, held in the Society’s rooms. 
It was also the parent of the Royal College of Music. 
Sir John Evans pointed to the fact that without our Soci- 
eties it would have been impossible for knowledge to have 
progressed as it has during the past century. They bring 
about that healthy competition which stirs men from rest 
or torper; a state once described by the secretary of the 
Society of Antiquaries, when he said; “Would to God 
there was nothing in the world older thana new-laid egg.”’ 
Bacteriological Notes. 
BY THE EDITOR. 
IMPROVED CULTURE MEDIUM For GONOococcUS.—Tubes 
of gelose are melted, and cooled to 40° C.. Half the vol- 
ume of blood—drawn directly from the artery of a rab- . 
bit—is added to the tubes of gelose, which are cooled in 
a slanting position. The growth of the gonococcus in this 
medium is very rapid, characteristic colonies being pres- 
ent in twenty-four hours.—Annales Dermatologie. 
BACTERIA IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.—Some interesting 
facts concerning the freedom of the air, water, and even 
the intestinal contents of animals of Arctic regions, from 
