QUEKETT MICEOSCOPIOAL CLUB. 187 



Herbarium "in tlie Botanical Section of tlie Museum on the top 

 floor, and entrance may be obtained by ringing the bell at the 

 door of the gallery. 



The President announced the deaths of the Dean of Chester, 

 who had been a member of the Club since 1878, and of Professor 

 G. S. West, a recently elected honorary member. Professor West 

 was known on account of his valuable contributions to the study 

 of freshwater algae. Arrangements have been made for his mono- 

 graph of the British Desmids, of which four volumes have been 

 published by the Ray Society, to be finished by one of his students. 

 Professor West has left his large collection of very beautiful draw- 

 ings of freshwater algae to the Botanical Department of the 

 Natural History Museum, South Kensington. The Hon. Secretary 

 was directed to send a letter of condolence to Mrs. West on behalf 

 of the Club. 



Mr. Traviss exhibited a section of quartz showing a very large 

 bubble in a cavity. He said that seven periods of rest had 

 occurred during the growth of the crystal, and that minor crystals 

 growing on one of the temporary surfaces could be seen by polarised 

 light. 



The President then called on Dr. G. H. Rodman to deliver his 

 lecture on " Some Floral and Faunal Remains of the Coal 

 Measures." The lecture was illustrated by a fine series of lantern 

 slides. Dr. Rodman had been very successful in photographing 

 some of the sections, which, on account of the variation in density 

 of different parts of the object, were very difficult to photograph 

 satisfactorily. The lecturer prefaced his address by drawing 

 attention to the value of photography in recording the appearance 

 of microscopic objects in cases where they are of no great thick- 

 ness and the details recorded all lie in one plane. In cases where 

 detail is required to be shown in several planes at the same time, 

 and in other special cases, it is necessary and better to resort 

 to the camera lucida. Dr. Rodman said the carboniferous 

 beds were of very ancient origin, far older than the Oolite, Wealden ' 

 and Cretaceous strata, though not so old as the Devonian and the 

 Old Red Sandstone. The beds are classified into : (1) Upper 

 carboniferous, consisting of the upper coal measures, in which are 

 found fossil remains of fish and moUusca ; (2) middle coal measures 

 in which are found most of the fossil plant remains ; (3) middle 

 carboniferous ; and (4) lower carboniferous, consisting of moun- 

 JouRN. Q. M. C, Series II.— No. 86. 13 



