THE WEST AMERICAN SCIENTIST. 51 



THE SAN FRANCISCO MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



May 13, 1885. Dr. J. H. Stallard gave a demonstration of the 

 method of cutting thin sections of animal tissues by the " freezing 

 process." Henry C. Hyde called attention to the comparative ad- 

 vantages and disadvantages of the various forms of " camera- 

 lucidas " or drawing prisms, which gave rise to an animated dis- 

 cussion. 



May 21. The annual reception tendered by the members of the 

 society to their friends was held at Irving Hall, and was in every 

 respect the most successful ever held in the city. Arranged on 

 tables along the sides and end of the hall were thirty-nine elegant 

 microscopes, representing the best work of all the more renowned 

 opticians of the world. Among the objects displayed were slides 

 of diatoms, Comma Bacillus, crystals, moths, seeds, blood corpuscles 

 and many other specimens of popular or scientific interest which 

 were viewed by the many delighted visitors who thronged the hall 

 and departed with a better insight into the marvelous beauties that 

 are revealed only by the microscope. 



THE NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION. 



The Cotton Exposition held at NeAv Orleans has been remarkably 

 successful and as far as magnitude is concerned can well claim to 

 rank with the two greatest World's Fairs ever held. The exhibi- 

 tions of the natural resources of the Southern and Western States 

 and Mexico were never excelled. The Department of Agriculture, 

 and various states made a very large collection of nearly all the 

 grasses of the country, a descriptive catalog of which has lately 

 been received from the author, Dr. Geo. Vasey. 



The most interesting collection of herbarium specimens was that 

 of a thousand or more finely prepared California plants, the work 

 of the well known botanist, Mr. J. G. Lemmon. The ferns of the 

 Pacific Coast constituted a striking feature of this collection of 

 plants, which were mounted upon bristol board and each enclosed 

 in a light glass frame and arranged where they could be easily ex- 

 amined, or, if necessary, removed for closer study. Thanks to the 

 energy of the Vice-President of the Pacific Slope, Mrs. J. G. Lem- 

 mon, the Women's Department of California contained over 2.000 

 exhibits, while the other departments were mostly well repre- 

 sented. 



