RiMMiNGTON, on Fungous Destruction of Lozenges. 103 
being put on or taken off by the pliers (fig. 3), which are 
specially made for the purpose; otherwise the object is not 
unfrequently injured when the fingers only are used. 
I hope, at some future time, to bring before the notice of 
this Society some definite observations which can be made 
by this mode of adjusting the position of an object when 
illuminated from above; for^ although by the aid of this 
piece of apparatus, I have already ascertained many facts 
which I never could satisfactorily determine before, and 
which 1 also find have been unknown to many microscopists, 
I am unable, without further investigation, to connect them 
in a form suitable to the character of these meetings. 
On Fungous Destruction of Lozenges in a Dry 
Atmosphere. By F. M. Eimmington. 
In the course of four or five years it has happened that I 
have had several lots of lozenges of different kinds spoil in 
a very remarkable manner. At first, the cause of this sin- 
gular effect was inexplicable, and it was not until two or three 
parcels had suffered that I began to suspect the nature 
of it, when, after careful observation of the phenomenon, I 
discovered that it arose from the slow growth of a fungus. The 
diseased condition always showed itself as a minute speck on 
some of the lozenges, having very much the appearance as 
if a small drop of moisture of some kiad had accidentally 
been spurted on them ; or, as if particles of some deliquescent 
substance had been scattered amongst them ; and this was, 
at first, the idea I entertained of the origin of the cause. 
This small spot, however, never dried, but slowly and 
gradually extended its diameter, penetrating deeper into 
the substance of the lozenge, and reducing the sugar to 
the condition of syrup, rendering the article unsightly and 
unfit for sale. By cutting out an infected part, and dis- 
solving out all the extraneous matter, or by allowing the 
3. 
(Communicated by Tuffen "West, Esq., F.L.S.) 
