88 
species I do not know as I lost it), and a perfect swarm of Ehinops vitrea ; 
the latter, which is I believe a new Rotifer, I have described in the January 
number of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 
My method of detecting these free swimming Eotifers is to pour some of 
the water into a small trough (about two inches by four), the copper frame- 
work of which holds two plate glass sides parallel to one another at a distance 
of a quarter of an inch, then by holding the trough opposite some dark 
surface, as a shady wall, tree, mould, &c. the Rotifers are readily seen as 
white moving specks, even by the naked eye. 
I do not mean to say that it is an easy art to capture, isolate, and gently 
hold down one of the smaller free swimming Rotifers; but patience and 
perseverance will enable any one who has tolerable sight to acquire it, and 
when acquired there will be employment for the microscope in the winter as 
well as in the summer for years to come, as well as the pleasure of pursuing 
a subject of which little is known, and in which there is ample scope for 
fresh discoveries. 
Mr. W. L. Carpenter, B. A., B.Sc, then rose and said : — 
"That he wished to call the attention of the members to a wonderful 
discovery recently made in spectrum analysis, a subject on which some of 
them might remember he had lectured at the Institution some time ago ; the 
history of the discovery was this : — For about two years a well-known English 
astronomer, Dr. Lockyer, has entertained the idea that by fishing, as it were, 
round the border of the sun with a spectroscope attached to his telescope he 
might in course of time catch sight of one of those wonderful red prominences 
which form so prominent a feature in an eclipse, and might thus obtain a 
more accurate knowledge of their nature without having to wait for the rare 
opportunities afforded by the sun's obstruction. This object he at last 
effected on the 20th of October last, by the aid of a powerful spectroscope 
provided for him at the expense of the Royal Society (and which was exhibited 
in an incomplete state at the last meeting of the British Association in 
Norwich) . He has, after many failures, observed carefully the spectrum of a 
solar prominence, which he has described in a note to the Secretary of the 
Royal Society. By a remarkable coincidence, the same idea of observing the 
red prominences by the aid of a spectroscope without the intervention of an 
eclipse occurred to M. Janssen, a French astronomer, when engaged in 
observing the late eclipse in India. This object he also succeeded in effecting, 
on the 19th of last August. Here then is a repetition of the case of Adams 
and Le a Verrier. Lockyer's claim to priority of idea is unquestionable, 
although to Janssen belongs the honour of first practically proving the truth 
of the theory. 
The news of the English discovery reached the great astronomer Delauney, 
