Dublin Mic7'oscopical Club. 343 



muscle in the inner sheath of connective tissue ; but no vessels could 

 be observed. 



Problematical Vegetable Oroivths. — Dr. E. Perceval Wright exhi- 

 bited two forms of vegetable growth which had made their appear- 

 ance in bottles of salt water in which Bnjopsis plamosa had been 

 kept growing over the winter. One of them was evidently a fungal 

 form, giving rise to immense masses of hyphse, with at intervals 

 large groups of couidia ; this form chiefly grew under the water. 

 The other, apparently a chlorophyllaceous form, was to. bo met with 

 just on the margins of the water, and growing up towards the cork, 

 in air. It was marvellously polymorphic in the outline of its cells, 

 which, at one time connected to form irregular filaments, at another 

 separate, differed so much in shape from one another as to make 

 it a matter of difficulty to find half a dozen alike. There did not 

 seem to be any organic connexion between the two. Small morsels 

 of the hyphae, when placed on a morsel of orange, fructified, and were 

 apparently to be referred to Mucor mucedo; but the specimen got 

 spoilt before this point could be authoritatively decided. The green 

 alga3 continued to grow, forming little fluffy tufts. 



Zygospores of Xanthidium Robinsonianum, Archer, exhibited for 

 the second season. — Mr. Crowe presented zygospores of Xanthidium 

 llobinsonianum, Archer, quite bearing out, when fully developed, 

 their characters of last year. These examples were taken at the 

 same locality in co. Kildare. 



Staining of Spinal Cord of Bullock. — Mr. B. Wills Ptichard- 

 son exhibited a cross section from the lumbar portion of the 

 spinal cord of a biillock, stained in three colours, viz. carmine, 

 picric yellow, and lilac. By daylight the three tints were very 

 distinct ; but by ordinary paraffin lamplight the picric yellow and 

 the lilac could scarcely be seen. However, by placing a piece of 

 blue glass beneath the slide, the picric yellow could then be distin- 

 guished. The section was mounted in Klein's damar solution. 



Aniline Blue and Logiuood Staining. — Dr. Harvey showed two 

 specimens illustrative of a new method of staining with aniline blue- 

 black and logwood. The blue-black is dissolved in ^-per-cent. solu- 

 tion of alum, and mixed with the ordinary aqueous solution of log- 

 wood chips in about the proportion of three to one. The first prepa- 

 ration was a specimen of the interauricular system from the heart 

 of a frog, showing the pneumogastric nerves and intrinsic ganglia in 

 situ. It was mounted in glycerine. The second was a transverse 

 section of the lumbar portion of the spinal cord of a child. It was 

 mounted in damar. Dr. Harvey stated that he had got much better 

 results by the use of this method than by the use of either dye 

 separately. 



Cosmarium WittrocHi, LimdeU, neiv to Ireland {probably new 

 to Britain). — Mr. Archer exhibited, for the first time noticed in 

 Ireland, he believed in Britain, Cosmarium WittrocJcii, Lundell, 

 a minute but pretty little species that might easily enough be over- 

 looked. 



