74 



THE AMEEICAN MONTHLY 



[April, 



tendered tlie hospitalities of that 

 city for the next meeting. All of 

 these invitations were referred to 

 the Executive Committee. 



Afternoon Session. — Soon after 

 the Society was called to order, 

 President Ward resigned the chair 

 to Mr. J. D. Hyatt, and presented 

 the following report from the " Na- 

 tional Committee on Micrometry," 

 of which Dr. Ward is Secretary : 



" Buffalo, N. Y., Aug. 21, 1879. 



To the American Society of Micro- 

 scopists : 



" During the past year, a Commit- 

 tee upon the subject of Micrometry 

 has been organized, representing a 

 large number of the microscopical 

 societies of the country, and con- 

 sisting of the following members: 



" Prof. Wm. Ashburner, San 

 Francisco, Cal. ; President, F. A. P. 

 Barnard, Columbia College, N. Y. ; 

 Lester Curtis, M. D., Chicago, 111. ; 

 Geo. E. Fell, C. E., Buffalo, N. Y. ; 

 Henry Jameson, M. D., Indianapo- 

 lis, Ind. ; Prof. S. A. Lattimore, 

 Rochester, N. Y. ; Rev. Samuel 

 Lockwood, Freehold, IST. J. ; Prof. 

 Edward W. Morley, Hudson, Ohio ; 

 Joseph G. Richardson, M. D., Phila- 

 delphia, Pa. ; Prof. S. P. Sharpies, 

 Boston, Mass. ; Prof. Hamilton L. 

 Smith, Geneva, N. Y. ; Prof. A. H. 

 Tuttle, Columbus, Ohio; C. M. 

 Yorce, Esq., Cleveland, Ohio ; R. 

 H. Ward, M. D., Troy, N. Y. ; J. 

 J. Woodward, M. D., Washington, 

 D. C. 



"This committee, as a result of 

 individual consideration of the sub- 

 ject and correspondence with mi- 

 croscopical societies and students, 

 would respectfully and unanimously 

 tender a report of progress to the 

 American Society, and respectfully 

 request this Society to rescind its 

 approval of the one-hundredth 

 millimeter as a unit for mi- 



crometry and to refer that ques- 

 tion, together with those of se- 

 curing precision and international 

 uniformity, to the committee for 

 further action." 



The report was adopted, and the 

 society rescinded the y^ of a milli- 

 meter as a unit, and referred the 

 matter back to the " National Com- 

 mittee." 



Mr. Thomas Taylor, Microscopist 

 of the Department of Agriculture 

 at Washington, D. C, was next in- 

 troduced by the President, and he 

 proceeded to explain the work of 

 his department. 



Mr. C. M. Yorce, Yice-President 

 of the Society, gave the results of 

 his labors in investigating the com- 

 parative destructiveness of certain 

 insects, such as the grasshopper, lo- 

 cust, cockroach, etc. He had made 

 a series of microscopical examina- 

 tions of the contents of the stom- 

 achs of these insects. The grass- 

 hoppers appeared to subsist on liv- 

 ing plants, while the cockroach and 

 many other insects, sought out de- 

 caying matter, either vegetal or 

 animal in its nature. 



Prof. S. A. Lattimore followed 

 Mr. Yorce, with a description of 

 different waters, which had come 

 under his observation. He had 

 been requested to discover the cause 

 of the death of fishes in Hemlock 

 Lake, the water supply of Roches- 

 ter, and on examining some of the 

 fishes which had been sent to him, 

 he found what he thought to be a 

 fungus growth on the surface of 

 the body. 



Dr. H. R. Hopkins, in behalf of 

 the Local Committee, invited the 

 members of the society to enjoy an 

 excursion to Niagara Falls, on 

 Friday, at 2 P. M. 



The invitation was accepted, and 

 the meeting adjourned. 



