172 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 



Mr. Crisp read the list of Fellows who had been nominated for 

 election at the February meeting as Oflficers and Coiiucil for the 

 ensuing year. 



Mr. Curties and Mr. F. H. Ward were elected auditors of the 

 Treasurer's accounts. 



Mr. C. Beck exhibited and described a new form of portable 

 battery for working small incandescence lanijis for the Microscope. 

 The battery consisted of three small bichromate cells closed by a 

 cover rendered water-tight by a collar of vulcanized rubber. The 

 battery, with once charging, would supjily sufficient current for one 

 lamp for about 21 hours. 



Mr. Beck also exhibited a simplified form of the Caldwell auto- 

 matic microtome, with an endless moving band to receive a continuous 

 series of sections in the exact order in which they were cut. The 

 band could be removed when required, and the instrument used as an 

 ordinary microtome, either with freezing arrangement or without. It 

 also had an automatic motion for raising the sections, and its cost was 

 a little over a third of the original form. 



Mr. Crisp said that the means of cutting a series of sections and 

 preserving them in their proper order on an endless band was now felt 

 to be a matter of very great practical importance, and to be able to 

 accomplish this at such a reduction of complexity and expense, as with 

 Messrs. Beck's machine, was a great advance. At Cambridge the 

 Caldwell microtome was w^orked by water-power, and he asked if such 

 a method of working could be applied to the machine before them. 



Mr. C. Beck said it would be quite easy to apply a donkey motion 

 to it for that puri)ose. 



Mr. J. Beck said that he would only supplement what had been 

 said by laying stress on the fact that iu all studies of embryology it 

 was of the greatest importance that the sections should be consecu- 

 tive. One section taken here and there gave very little idea of the 

 object as compared with what could bo learnt from a consecutive 

 series. 



Mr. Groves inquired if it was possible to use the machine without 

 the automatic feed, because it was sometimes very useful to be able 

 to get a thick section as well as thin ones. 



Mr. C. Beck explained that this could be readily done so that at 

 any time a thick section could be obtained. 



Mr. Crisp said that in the recent Schanze microtome an improve- 

 ment had been effected by altering the position of the screw so that it 

 was at the side, and not directly under the object cut, where it was 

 likely to be clogged by drij)pings from the object, 



Mr. C. Beck said that in his instrument the screw was placed a 

 good inch away at the side. 



Mr. Crisp described Behrens' modification of the Abbe condenser, 

 and Mr. Curties exhibited the plan he used for attaching the condenser 

 to English stands (su2)ra, p. 124). 



