168 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [May 



the society consisted of 177 members, of whom no less 

 than twenty-two were Fellows of the Royal Society, and 

 included such well-known names as Thos. Bell (professor 

 of zoolog-y at King-'s Colleg-e), Birkett (of Guy's), Georg-e 

 Busk, F. R. S. (president 1848-9), Sir James Clarke, John 

 Edward Gray (keeper of the zoolog-ical department of the 

 British Museum), John Lindley, Ph. D., F. R. S. (president 

 1842-3), John Kippist (the librarian of the Linnaean Socie- 

 ty), the Marquis of Northampton (then president of the 

 Royal Society), Sir John Tomes^ Erasmus Wilson, and 

 Joseph Jackson Lister, F. R. S., who has been described 

 as "the pillar and source of all the microscopy of his age." 

 In passing-, it may be noted that it was on January 29th, 

 1840, that the society adopted standard sizes for the g-lass 

 slips for objects, 3 x 1 in. and 3 x 1% in., which sizes are 

 universally employed to-day. As the list of subsequent 

 presidents is read over, one cannot but be struck by the 

 fact that they were all eminently practical men ; some of 

 their names are so familiar to us on account of their work 

 that it seems impossible to dissociate them from present 

 day microscopy, such, for instance, as Georg-e Jackson, 

 M. R. C. S. (1852-3), who g-ave us the well-known Jackson 

 form of microscope ; Dr. William B. Carpenter, C. B., 

 F. R. S. (1854-5), whose book, recently edited and revised 

 by Dr. Dalling-er, is the standard work on matters micro- 

 scopical (it was during- Dr. Carpenter's presidency that 

 the standard screw for objectives was fixed and intro- 

 duced) ; John Thomas Quekett, F. R. S. (1860) and others. 

 Professor Huxley was a member of the council in 1857, 

 and contributed his first paper to the Society's proceed- 

 ing-s during- the presidency of Dr. Arthur Farre, F. R. S. 

 (1850-1). 



"The society was established for the promotion of mi- 

 croscopical and biolog-ical science, by the commuication, 

 discussion and publication of observations and discoveries 

 relating- to (1) improvements in the construction and mode 

 of application of the microscope, or (2) biolog-ical or other 

 subjects of microscopical research." 



How perfectly the society has adhered to the lines laid 



