PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 443 



The President read a note on the histology of the Temno- 

 pleuridfe, which he illustrated by drawings upon the black-board. 



Mr. Stewart called attention to a cnrious change which took place 

 under certain circumstances in the reticulated netwoz'k ; where there 

 was any friction going on it was found that the interctices became 

 filled up with carbonate of lime, and this seemed to be a case of pre- 

 cisely the same kind as what went on in bone-tissues under similar 

 circumstances. Besides the spicules in the hard tissues there was 

 found a remarkable exception in the structure of the teeth, which 

 more closely resembled silicious rather than calcareous spicules. 



Mr. Hartog said that in studying the structure of these organisms 

 it was important to study the soft parts in connection with the hard 

 ones. To do this the specimen should be first stained and then 

 satiu-ated with liquid Canada balsam, which should be evaporated 

 down to a resin : sections could then be cut through the shell and the 

 soft parts, at the same time showing them together in situ, and stained 

 as far as they could be. 



Mr. Stewart said that in Koch's method it was solid copal varnish 

 which was used instead of solid Canada balsam, the latter being too 

 brittle to enable good sections to be cut. He had seen sections which 

 had been made by this method, and they certainly showed the structure 

 remarkably well in the corals, &c. 



The President said that Koch's method was a most excellent one 

 as applied to corals, but it did not answer so well for Echinoderms. 

 He had found it a very good plan to dissolve out the calcareous 

 portions with weak acid. With regard to the fossil forms they all 

 knew that the reticulated structure was entirely lost during fossili- 

 zation, when it seemed entirely filled up by calcite. 



Mr. Stewart remarked that this complex network showed under 

 the polariscope a common axis of tension passing through the entire 

 body. 



Professor Abbe's paper "On All-round Vision" was read by 

 Mr. Crisp. 



The following Instruments, Objects, &c., were exhibited : — 



Mr. Crisp:— (1) "Jumbo" Microscope; (2) "Midget" Micro- 

 scope; (3) "Acme "Class Microscope (see p. 251) ; (4) Browning's 

 Portable Microscope (see p. 252). 



Mr. Hartog : — Apus cancriformis and a series of sections of 

 Entomostraca. 



Mr. Ingpen : — Zeiss Microscope and sliding cylinder-diaphragms. 



Dr. Loew : — Photographs of Spi7-ogyra nitida. 



Baron Ferd. v. Mueller, K.C.M.G., &c. : — Various dried Algae 

 from the Phytologic Museum of Melbourne. 



Mr. L. A. Sillem : — Foot of Emerald spider. 



New Fellows. — The following were elected Ordinary Fellows :- 

 Messrs. John A. Ollard, Henry Palmer, and Henry Pocklington. 

 Honorary Fellows : — Professor C. Eobin and Dr. L. Dippel. 



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