SCIEJYCE-GOSSIP. 





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CONDUCTED BY F. SHILLINGTON SCALES. F.R.il.S. 



Royal Microscopical Society. — Decem- 

 ber 19th. William Carruthers. Esq., F.R.S., in the 

 chair. Notice was given on behalf of the Council 

 that at the next meeting of the Society the name 

 of Dr. C. T. Hudson would be submitted for elec- 

 tion as an Honorary Fellow. Mr. E. M. Nelson 

 exhibited a small pocket microscope made by Dr. 

 Gilbertson, of London, of unknown date. Dr. Hebb 

 read the list of nominations by the Council for 

 election at the Annual Meeting on January 16th. 

 as follows: — As President, Mr. William' Car- 

 ruthers : as Vice-presidents, Dr. Braithwaite. 

 Messrs. Michael, and Nelson, and the Right Hon. 

 Sir Ford North : as Treasurer. Mr. J. J. Vezey : a? 

 Secretaries. Dr. Dallinger and Dr. Hebb : as Coun- 

 cil, Messrs. Allen. Beck. Bennett, Browne. Bev. E. 

 C'arr. Messrs. Dadswell, Disney. Karop. Plimmer. 

 Powell. Professor Urban Prit chard, and Mr. Rous- 

 selet : as Curator, Mr. Rousselet. Mr. Barton, on 

 behalf of Messrs. Ross, Limited, exhibited some 

 new forms of lanterns which could be used for 

 ordinary projection purposes either with or without 

 the microscope. The first was constructed so as 

 to exclude all light from the room except what 

 passed through the lenses : the second was larger 

 and more complex, and could be used for all pur- 



• - including enlargements. Both gave excel- 

 lent definition. Mr. Barton also exhibited and 

 described several new forms of microscope with 

 detachable circular staging and new form of 

 electric arc lamp for lantern use. A new form of 

 limelight was also exhibited which attracted much 

 attention from its great brilliancy and steadiness, 

 and the silence with which it burned. These 

 effects were produced by causing the gases to im- 

 pinge upon each other previous to their entrance 

 into the mixing chamber, and by the construction 

 of the chamber itself. 



Journal of the Quekett Microscopical 

 Clue. — We regret that space has prevented our 

 noticing earlier the November issue of this inter- 

 esting journal, which contains the index for the 

 volume comprising this and the preceding five 

 numbers. The present number contains an article 

 by Mr. T. B. Rossiter on the anatomy of the tape- 

 worm Dic-ranetae/oa coronvla. with two excellent 

 plates ; a note on four rare British fungi by Mr. 

 Ernest S. Salmon, with one plate : and another 

 note by Mr. E. M. Nelson on Actinocyclus ralfsii, 

 with special reference to the cause of the colour 

 exhibited by this diatom when examined with low- 

 and high-angled lenses respectively. Mr. R. T. 

 Lewis adds a most interesting contribution to the 

 life-history of Ixodes redwing, also with a plate. 

 which we recommend to the notice of the manv 

 readers of Science-Gossip who were interested in 

 Mr. E. G. Wheler's recent articles (S.-G. vol. v. U.S. 

 pp. 5, 46, 108) on " Ticks and Louping HI," and 

 which is a further elaboration of the life-historv 



dealt with therein. These articles were sub- 

 sequently published in a more extended form in 

 the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. 

 and have been since reprinted for private circula- 

 tion. Mr. A. A. Merlin deals with the structural 

 division of the endoplasm observed by him in the 

 bacilli of bubonic plague and of other microbes : 

 Mr. Chas. D. Soar contributes a list of fresh- 

 water mites found near Oban. N.B. : and Mr. D. J. 

 Scourneld. the editor of the " Journal." adds a 

 note on the swimming peculiarities of Daphnia 

 and similar Entomostraca, with some original and 

 very practical hints as to examining living 

 specimens. Several minor notes, reviews of books. 

 and the usual reports of the proceedings of the 

 Club make up a most interesting number. 



Bausch :c Lome's New Catalogue.— We desire 

 to say that since the appearance last month of our 

 notice of Messrs. Bausch & Lomb's new catalogue 

 we have received from their London agents, Messrs. 

 Staley k. Co., 35 Aldermanbury, a copy of the same 

 catalogue specially prepared and priced for the Eng- 

 lishmarket. It is not for us to enter here into political 

 and fiscal matters, but it is worth noting that the 

 heavy import duties in the United States appa- 

 rently represent a difference of about 25 per cent, 

 in favour of the English buyer. The prices in the 

 English catalogue, accordingly, compare favourably 

 with those current in America and on the Continent. 

 We take the first opportunity of making the neces- 

 sary correction. Our notice, of course, was of 

 the American catalogue, which had been sent to 

 us direct from America. 



X' yes 03N Crestaceaxs. — Professor G. S. 

 Brady has kindly sent us reprints of two papers 

 read by him and reprinted from the " Natural 

 History Transactions of Northumberland, Durham. 

 and Newcastle-on-Tyne." One of these contains a 

 new description of IlyopHijVv.t coriacevs, a remark- 

 able little crustacean notable for its brilliant 

 colour, eel-like movements, and peculiar mouth- 

 parts. The almost obsolete mandibles, and the 

 reduction of all the other mouth -apparatus — 

 maxillae and niaxillipedes — to a very few minute 

 filaments or setae, preclude its coming into line 

 with any of the three divisions established by 

 Thorell. The author proposes, therefore, to esta- 

 blish a new section for the reception of llyopsyllus 

 under the name of Leptostomata. The divisions 

 of Copepoda, based upon the structure of the 

 mouth-organs, would then stand as f oRows : 

 Gnathostoinata, Poecilostomata. Leptostomata, and 

 Siphonostomata. In the same paper is given a 

 list of littoral forms of Crustacea collected by the 

 author at Alnmouth. in Northumberland, such as- 

 Paratylu* wncinatus, Apherusa borealis. Siriella 

 norvegica, and 8. arntata, which are considered by 

 Dr. Norman to be new to the local fauna. Some 

 new forms are described in Cyclops mlinus, 

 Ectiiiosoma mela/meepg, Stenhelia limicola, Eclihw- 

 chere* molaceag, and Cyclopicera hertticiensis, all of 

 which are illustrated by plates. The author notes 

 that Acartia damsii is infested with what is 

 probably an immature fluke, of which the dab 

 (Liritanda limamda), for instance, may be the final 

 host. 



Nature and Origin of Fresh-water 

 Faunae. — The other paper deals with the nature 

 and origin of fresh-water faunae. Professor Brady 

 points out that, accepting the orthodox zoological 

 theory that life originated in the sea. we may sup- 



