PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 475 



scientist that it was needless for Lim to say more than to express 

 their deep sense of the loss sustained by the removal of so eminent 

 a man, who had formerly held the office of Vice-President of their 

 Society. 



Mr. J. Mayall, jun., thought it was a point of special interest to be 

 mentioned in connection with Dr. de la Kue that in quite the early 

 days, when the Microscope was not so perfect as at present, he 

 acquired for himself considerable skill in its application, and was the 

 first to make a systematic study of Nobert's lines, some account of 

 which was published in the third edition of ' Quekett on the Micro- 

 scope.' He corresponded with Nobert at the time upon the subject, 

 and was one of the first to produce photomicrographs. 



The President said he might mention that a new species of 

 BracMonus had been found by Mr. Eousselet which presented some very 

 interesting features. He would not anticipate Mr. Eousselet by then 

 describing them, but would draw upon the board the sideways appear- 

 ance of the lorica of another curious species from Australia which 

 had been sent to him by Surgeon Vidal Gunson Thorpe, E.N. He 

 felt sure that most of the mistakes made in the descriptions of these 

 creatures arose from attempts to kill them first and examine them 

 afterwards; to get correct results from this was hopeless, because 

 when killed they became opaque, and began to disintegrate almost at 

 once. Another instance he might mention was that of Dr. E. von 

 Daday's elaborate memoir on Pedalion, in which there were drawings 

 untrue to nature, owing to their having been made from creatures 

 brought home in spirit, and consequently distorted in many ways. 

 All the speaker's own drawings had been made from life, after two 

 months' constant observation, in consequence of the extreme difficulty 

 of getting the creature into the proper position for seeing the particular 

 portion wanted ; and he must certainly say that of all rotifera Pedalion 

 was the most aggravating one he knew of in this respect. For the 

 correct observation of Eotifera there were only two directions to be 

 given : first, see them alive ; second, for reagents use patience. 



Mr. J. D. Hardy said it might be worth mentioning that the best way 

 he knew of to keep these rotifera quiet for a sufficiently long time to be 

 able to draw them, especially when they were such active creatures as 

 the one last mentioned, was to make a strong solution of common loaf 

 sugar, and add it drop by drop to the water until the rapid motion of the 

 rotifer was stopped. This did not prevent them from keeping up their 

 ciliary action, and the liquid remained sufficiently transparent to make 

 observation quite easy. 



The President said this idea was quite new to him, and inquired how 

 much syrup it was proper to add to the water. 



Mr. Hardy said the quantity would depend upon the size of the cell. 

 The plan was merely to mix loaf sugar and water until a syrup was pro- 

 duced about as thick as treacle, and then to add this drop by drop to the 

 water in the cell until the rotifer was fairly fixed. 



The President inquired if Mr. Hardy had ever tried this plan with 

 AsplancJina, because whenever he had tried mixing anything with the 

 water he found that they either blew themselves out quite tight, or else 

 shrivelled up altogether. 



