QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB. 201 



manent allotments, and so nullifying the Epping Forest Act of 

 1878, which provides that the forest shall be preserved unenclosed 

 for the enjoyment of the public for ever." 



Mr. J. Wilson moved and Mr. D. Bryce seconded a similar 

 resolution, and it was passed unanimously, the Hon. Secretary 

 being directed to send copies to the proper quarters. 



The Secretary announced that the next excursion would be 

 to Chingford and Loughton, and would take place on April 24th, 

 the members to leave Liverpool Street by the first train after 

 2 o'clock. There would be a Gossip Meeting on April 27th, and at 

 the next Ordinary Meeting on May 11th Mr. Wycherley would read 

 a paper on " The Microscopical Examination of Paper Fibres." 



The President then called on Mr. Akehurst to describe the 

 Silverman illumination which he was exhibiting at the meeting. 

 The lamp consists of a glass tube 1/4 in. in diameter, which either 

 encircles the objective and is held in place by three metal fingers 

 that grip it, or else is supported below the objective by an attach- 

 ment to the stage when the working distance of the objective is 

 very considerable and the lamp would otherwise be too far from 

 the object to be illuminated. A tungsten filament extends nearly 

 the whole length of the tube. The back of the tube is silvered. 

 The voltage is 14, and may be raised to 18 for photographic pur- 

 poses. Mr. Akehurst said that he had been able to obtain enough 

 light to show a dry-mounted Pleurosigma angulatum with an oil- 

 immersion objective. As the incandescent filament does not 

 quite form a complete circle, the light is slightly oblique, but a 

 shutter is provided by which greater obliquity may be obtained if 

 required. Mr. Akehurst then showed a few photographs taken 

 with the illuminator, including one of the surface of cast iron, and, 

 for comparison, another photograph taken with an ordinary 

 vertical illuminator. The results obtained with the new lamp 

 were very satisfactory. It was found that the temperature of an 

 objective to which the lamp was attached was raised to 50° or 

 60° C. in twenty minutes, and it then remained stationary. 



Mr. Jas. Burton sent for distribution a quantity of the pretty 

 little water fern Azolla, taken from a pond at Bournemouth. 

 The plant is sub-tropical, and, although not at all common in this 

 country, it is fairly frequently found. Mr. Wilson had found it 

 fifteen years ago in Hainault Forest, and two years ago it was 

 common in the backwaters of the Thames near Richmond, and 



