574 PnOCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 



day after admission with all tbc usual symptoms and agonizing tor- 

 tures of this horrible disease. An attempt to administer chloroform 

 was made during one of the violent part)xysms towards the end of the 

 case, and about two di-achms of saliva collected in a clean tube as it 

 dribbled from the moutli. Some covers were i)rcpared in the usual 

 manner, stained with gentian violet, and mounted in xylol-balsam. 

 I'he specimens presented the following characters : — Eiuthelium in 

 largo (Quantities, most of the cells crowded with micrococci ; bacilli 

 of various lengths, and very variable in diameter, some being thick 

 and others extremely slender, A few showed evidence of spore for- 

 niatiou, and were surrounded by a capsule. Micrococci abundant, in 

 masses ; diplococci, and short chaplets. Mr. Karop also exhibited a 

 drawing of the Bacilli (sec fig. 133). 



Mr. J. Mayall, jun., exhibited the diamonds belonging to the ruling 

 machine of the late F. A. Nobert, a typical one being shown under a 

 Microscope by Mr. Powell. He said that in engaging to report to 

 the Society the results of his examination of the ruling diamonds, ho 

 Lad expected the task would involve at the most a few hours' work 

 with the Microscope, using powers from 20 to 150 diameters. In 

 this expectation he had been mistaken ; he had not found it jTOSsiblo 

 to explain the nature of the diamond surfaces by mere inspection with 

 the Microscope. On calling in the testimony of " experts " in diamond 

 cleaving, polishing, &c., the results arrived at hod become still more 

 complicated, so that he (Mr. Mayall) had almost despaired of the possi- 

 bility of bringing before the Society a report to which he could pledge 

 himself. There were ten diamonds with the machine. Two of them 

 were technically termed " points," j^yramidal fragments of diamond 

 terminating in points, and all who had examined them agreed that one 

 was a piece of natural crystal, whilst the other had two cleavage faces 

 and one crystalline (natural) face, all three faces untouched by the mill, 

 Eegarding these " points," there had been no difficulty in deciding 

 that none of the surfaces had been polished. The other eight diamonds 

 each presented the general form of two faces meeting in an " edge " ; 

 the difficulty had been to decide whether the foces were in some cases 

 (1) both polished, (2) both ckaved ("cleavage faces" unpolished), or 

 (3j one polished and one cleaved. The opinions of the diamond ex- 

 perts could not be reconciled, for in two instances they were in abso- 

 lute contradiction ; one party affirming that both surfaces were polished, 

 whilst the other party were equally positive that both surfaces were 

 due to cleavage, and were not polished. 



Under these circumstances it had appeared to him essential to 

 submit the surfaces to the test of the goniometer, with a view to 

 determining whether the angles of the natural cleavage planes had 

 been altered, any such alteration being necessarily due to artificial 

 polishing of one or both surfaces. He had thought it would be most 

 satisfactory to ask the assistance of a professional mineralogist, and 

 had therefore applied to Mr. Lazarus Fletcher, of the Mineralogical 

 Department in the British Museum, who had very kindly undertaken 

 to examine the diamonds and measure the angles with Fuess's gonio- 



