Fuly 7, 1870) 
NATURE 201 
When the flask was opened, the reaction of the fluid was found 
_ to be neutral. 
Portions of the pellicle were at once transferred to a glass mi- 
croscope slip, and then, protected byacovering glass, weresubmitted 
to a prolonged microscopical examination.* A number of little 
figure-of-eight particles, each half of which was +5455” in diameter, 
were seen in active movement, even in situations where they 
could not have been influenced by currents. ‘The portions of the 
pellicle were made up of large, irregular, and highly refractive 
protein-looking particles imbedded in a transparent jelly-like 
material. The particles were most varied in size and shape, 
being often variously branched and knobbed. There were also 
seen several very delicate, perfectly hyaline, vesicles about 55” 
in diameter, these being altogether free from solid contents. 
A subsequent and most careful examination of a considerable 
quantity of the granular matter of the pellicle which had been 
mounted on two microscope-slips,t and at once protected by 
surrounding the covering glasses with cement, revealed five 
spherical or ovoid spores theaverage size of which was about z3'55” 
in diameter. ‘They all possessed a more or less perfectly-formed 
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Fic. 18.—Fungus-spores found ina Carbonate of Ammonia and Phosphate 
of Soda Solution which had been exposed to a temperature varying from 
146° to 153° C. for four hours. 
nucleus, and all showed a most distinct doubly-contoured wall. 
Une of the smaller of them showed that it had reached a stage 
where it was about to germinate. In addition, one small mass of 
Sarcina was seen, not very distinctly defined, owing to its being 
still in a somewhat embryonic stage. 
H. CHARLTON BastiAN 
(To be concluded.) 
NEW OBSERVATORY AT THE MAURITIUS 
(Communicated. ) 
H IS Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh and his Excellency 
Sir Henry Barkly, attended by their respective suites, arrived 
at the site of the New Observatory at half past ten on Monday 
morning, May 30th, and were received by the President and 
Council of the Meteorological Society. 
The architect of the building, Mr. Bowdler, of the Surveyor 
General’s Department, and Mr. Horne, of the Royal Botanical 
Gardens, had elegantly decorated the grounds and the enclosed 
space around the massive stone. 
The President, Captain Russell, R,N., read and presented the 
following address :— 
“ To Captain His Royal Highness ALFRED ERNEST ALBERT, 
Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Ulster, Earl of Kent, K.G., 
K.T:, G.C.MLG,, G.C.S:L., RN, &e. 
«May it please your Royal Highness, 
“« We, the President and Council of the Meteorological Society 
of Mauritius, beg leave to approach your Royal Highness with 
the assurance of our loyalty to the Crown, and of our devoted 
attachment to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family. 
“< We desire to offer to your Royal Highness a cordial welcome 
to these shores. 
‘Mauritius being admirably situated for meteorological and 
magnetical observation, it has long been the ardent wish of the 
Society that an Observatory, fully equipped wtth instruments 
of the most approved construction, should be permanently 
established for that purpose. 
* Professor Huxley examined portions of the pellicle as soon as they were 
removed. He at once admitted the general resemblance as regards micro- 
scopical characters between this and the pellicle which forms on solutions con- 
taining organic matter. The particles were, however, mostly indefinite inshape 
rather than definite, though they were obviously imbedded in a clear jelly- 
like material. They became deeply tinted, also, when tested with a weak 
magenta solution, in the same way that the monads and bacteria of an ordi- 
nary pellicle are tinted by such a fluid, whilst the jelly-like material only 
assumed the faintest tinge of colour. 
+ These were the two specimens which were mounted in Prof Huxley’s 
presence, and which wereexamined by him. After he left I spent inore than 
two hours inthoroughly searching over these specimens with’a yy" objective. 
And the result was that five fungus-spores were found in the two specimens 
' asabove stated. These are still in my possession. , r 
‘Through the wise and liberal policy of the late Sir William 
Stevenson, and more immediately that of our present Governor 
and Patron, his Excellency Sir Henry Barkly, the moment for 
commencing the principal building has now arrived. 
‘“We therefore hail with joy the auspicious occasion which 
allows us to request that your Royal Highness will be pleased 
to lay the Foundation Stone. 
“Meteorological and magnetical researches, having for one of 
their main objects the safety and welfare of Navigation, touch 
closely the commercial prosperity of the world, and link together 
men of every nation by the cords of a common interest. Your 
Royal. Highness, therefore, being not only an Officer in the 
Nayal Service of a Queen whose ships traverse every sea, and 
whose Dominions extend to the remotest shores, but also the 
Son of an Illustrious Prince, who was ever foremost in encourag- 
ing Science, there could not, we venture to to think, be a more 
fitting Monument of the visit of your Royal Highness to 
Mauritius than a building to be specially devoted to objects with 
which your Royal Highness’s experience cannot fail to prompt 
a generous sympathy. 
“With our warmest wishes for your Royal Highness’s welfare 
and happiness, and with renewed assurances of our devotion to 
our beloved Soyereign’s Person and Family,—We have the 
honour to be, with the highest respect, your Royal Highness’s 
most humble and most dutiful Servants, 
“«(Signed) James Tho. Russell, R.N., President; VW. J. 
Jourdain, Vice-President; A. J. W. Arnott. 
Treasurer; J, C. Browne, C. Bruce, A. B, 
Commins, M. Connal, J. H. Finniss, Robt. 
Leech, George Melrvine, Council; C, Mel- 
drum, Secretary.” 
His Royal Highness replied in the following terms :— 
“To the President and Council of the Meteorological Society. 
** Gentlemen, 
“TI beg to thank you most heartily for your cordial welcome. 
It will afford me sincere pleasure to lay before Her Majesty the 
assurance of loyalty and devotion conveyed in your address, 
** As an officer in the navy,}I fully appreciate the advantageous 
position of this island for meteorological and magnetical obser- 
vation, and it is with great satisfaction that I proceed to comply 
with your invitation of laying the foundation stone of a building 
to be specially devoted to objects of such importance. 
‘*Your expressions of affectionate interest inall that concerns my 
future welfare and usefulness in the career which, by God's will, 
may be before me, are such as to demand a no less cordial 
response on my part. 
“*May this ceremony be auspicious to all concerned, and I 
sincerely trust that the Observatory, when completed, may realise 
all the expectations of its promoters, and continue throughout 
the future, not only a source of utility to the colony itself, but 
an aid to the cause of science, and a blessing to navigators 
throughout the world, 
(Signed) ALFRED.” 
The ceremony of laying the foundation stone was then pro- 
ceeded with. His Royal Highness first deposited in a recess 
in the lower stone a bottle containing coins of the realm, a copy 
of the address, newspapers of the colony, and a paper on which 
was engrossed the following inscription :— 
‘*This foundation stone of the Mauritius New Observatory 
was laid by Captain H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, in presence 
of H. E. Sir Henry Barkly, K.C.B., F.R.S., Governor and 
Commander-in-Chief of Mauritius, at the request of the Meteoro- 
logical Society, on Monday, the goth of May, 1870.” 
His Royal Highness then spread the lower stone with mortar, 
and the upper stone was lowered into its bed. ‘The Prince 
afterwards tried the stone with plumb-rule, level, and gavel 
in right masonic style, and declared it well and truly laid. 
The trowel used by his Royal Highness, and presented to him 
by the society, was of solid silver, elegantly chased and of beauti- 
ful form. It was manufactured by Mr. G. Lewison, of Royal 
Street, and had engraved on it the following inscription :-— 
‘*Presented to His Royal Highness Alfred Ernest Albert, 
Duke of Edinburgh, K.G., K.T., G.C.S.I., R.N., by the 
Meteorological Society of Mauritius, at the laying of the Pounda- 
tion Stone of a new Meteorological and Magnetical Observatory. 
Mauritius, 30th May, 1870.” 
The Secretary, Mr. Meldrum, then addressed his Royal 
Highness as follows :— 
