PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
53 
The Cliairman said that most of the Fellows were aware that the 
Society was constantly indebted to Mr. Kitton for his kindness in 
examining and naming diatoms which they submitted to him, and it 
had been thought by the Council that his services should be in some 
way recognized by the Society. They had therefore proposed that 
Mr. Kitton should be nominated for election as an Honorary Fellow 
of the Society. The resolution of the Council to that effect was then 
put to the meeting and unanimously confirmed, and Mr. Kitten's name 
was ordered to be suspended in the usual way. 
The Chairman then read to the meeting the translation of a paper 
" On a Photograph of Nobert's Bands," which had been addressed to 
the President, and was communicated to them at his request. The 
paper was written in Italian by the Abbe Count Castracane, and 
some further remarks upon the subject by the President were 
appended to it. (The paper will be found at p. 6.) 
The thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to the Abbe 
Count Castracane and to the President for their communications. 
Mr. Henry Davis gave an abstract of a paper " On the Formation 
of Conochilus," and illustrated his remarks by numerous drawings on 
the board showing the differences between that genus and the Floscules, 
and also the results of his own observations which had led to some 
very interesting additions to the knowledge of the life history of these 
rotifers. (The paper will be found at p. 1.) 
The Chairman felt sure that all who were present would return 
their hearty thanks to Mr. Davis for his interesting communication. 
He could quite confirm what Mr. Davis had said with respect to the 
tails of these creatures ; but he should like to ask at what particular 
season of the year the males were found, and also at what time the 
" winter eggs " abounded in the gelatinous mass ? 
Mr. Davis said he found the male rotifers in July and August 
1875; but he fancied that Dr. Hudson had found them recently. The 
winter eggs might be found in every month of the year, so that there 
was really no ground for applying this name to them. He thought 
they served the purpose of resisting the effect of drying up the ponds 
in a season of drought, just in the same way that the gelatinous 
coverings of some other creatures had been shown to do in a paper 
which he read to the Society some time ago. 
The Chairman supposed that if only a small number of these 
winter eggs hatched, it would not be enough for the formation of a 
group, and inquired how few a number Mr. Davis had found grouped 
together. 
Mr. Davis said he had found as small a number as six in one group, 
but he had observed that when only a small number were found 
together, the individuals were all of the same age, whereas when a 
large group was examined it would be found to consist of individuals 
of all ages. 
The Chairman was quite sure that they all appreciated Mr. Davis's 
new and important discoveries, but the fact of their being new was of 
course the reason why no one had at present much to say about them. 
The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Davis for his paper. 
