166 THE AMEEICAN MONTHLY [July, 



their country. Washington, too, is well equipped in a practical way 

 to insure the comfort of large gatherings of people, and the great num- 

 ber of its hotels and boarding houses, with their consequent competition, 

 is a guarantee that no exorbitant prices will be charged for accommo- 

 dations. To the microscopist, however, a trip to Washington must 

 prove especially significant. In this city he has access to such scientific 

 depositories as the Army Medical Museum, National Museum, Smith- 

 sonian Institution, Department of Agriculture, and the local Universi- 

 ties. 



The following committees have been appointed to make arrangements 

 for the comfort of the visiting scientists : 



Finance: Mr. J. M. Yznaga, chairman; Messrs. E. A. Balloch, A. 



B. Coolidge, T. B. Hood, L. D. Wilson, H. A. Robbins, W. C. Dufi; 

 D. K. Shute, T. W. Smillie, W. H. Wilmer, and E. A. Burdick. 



Reception: Dr. J. M. Lamb, chairman; Messrs. C. H. Stowell, J. 

 M. Stedman, I. W. Blackburn, V. A. Moore, S. J. Radclifl:e, C. W. 

 Richardson, R. Foster, A. N. Skinner, H. A. Dobson, and L. M. 

 Mooers. 



Place of Meeting and Printing: Dr. Robert Reyburn, chairman; 

 Messrs. Thos. Taylor, W. W. Alleger, W. H. Seaman, C. T. Cald- 

 well, J. M. Flint, H. L. E. Johnson, J. F. Scott, G. B. Young, R. A. 

 Foster, and G. H. Penrose. 



Railroads: Mr. H. H. Doubleday, chairman; Messrs. C. Marshall, 



C. W. Smiley, G. N. Acker, E. A". Gibbs, F. T. Chapman, J. Grim- 

 sted, D. S. Lamb, E. G. Seibert, and W. E. Schneider. 



An Elegant Slide. — At the May meeting of the San Francisco 

 Microscopical Society Mr. Runyon exhibited a slide prepared by Thum, 

 of Leipzig, and presented by the San Francisco College of Pharmacy 

 to A. H. Breckenfield, in recognition of his valuable course of lectures 

 on ''Microscopy" before the class of last year. This slide contained 

 1,230 diatoms, arranged in the form of a monogram. It was stated 

 that 112 hours of patient labor had been expended in its preparation. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. 



Boston Scientific vSociety. 



J-amtary 27, l8gi^ 22jd Corporate Meetuig. — The essayist of the 

 evening was the Vice-President, Dr. Frank Perrin, D. D. S., who read 

 a paper on " Tooth Development." Dr. Perrin's paper was in a meas- 

 ure supplementary to a paper delivered by him at a previous meeting, 

 on the composition of the teeth. He described the gradual development, 

 from the papilla in the primaiy dental groove to the fully grown tooth, 

 illustrating each stage most thoroughly by lantern slides, nearh^ all of 

 which were prepared by the lecturer. The paper was very interesting, 

 and treated in a popular way of a subject which is little known outside 

 of the medical profession. 



April 14^ i8gi. — Mr. W. D. Grier read a paper on " The Exter- 

 nal Anatomy of Insects." Mr. Grier remarked, that although insects 

 make up about four-fifths of the animal kingdom, comparatively few 

 people know exactly what an insect is. An insect is an animal whose 



