182 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
and report to tlie Eoyal Microscopical Society of London, with a view 
of obtaining their co-operation for the adoption of such measures as it 
deemed desirable. Dr. Sturt read a paper on a " Peat-ash Deposit 
found near Sebastopol," composed almost entirely of diatoms ; also an 
extract from ' Nature ' on " Microscopic Examination of Air," followed 
by one on " Lithofracteur." A wool-classifying apparatus, invented 
by Messrs. Hesse and Eummell, was brought under the notice of the 
Society, and is one of the many instances of the microscope being 
brought into use in the mercantile world. Among the objects 
exhibited may be mentioned — Victorian foraminifera and diatoms, by 
Mr. Barnard ; microphotographs, by Mr. Noone ; new fungi, by Mr. 
Ralph ; spicules of isis and a medusa, by Dr. Sturt ; cuticle of 
synapta and the echinococcus, by Mr. Gibbons; some Entozoa 
folliculorum from a pig's snout, by Mr. Girdlestone : a tetrarhynchus 
from a flathead, by Mr. R. Robertson ; and an apus, by Dr. Johnson. 
Communications have been received from London, Philadelphia, 
Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania. One of the council of 
the Royal Microscopical Society of London — Mr. Frank Crisp — has 
written, wishing to become a member of this Society. But the most 
interesting communication was read by the Hon. Secretary at the last 
meeting of the year, from Mr. C. Maplestone, of Maryborough, relating 
to the " results of his observations with the microscope in Victoria," 
and the committee would recommend a perusal of it to those interested 
in the microscopical and natural history of this colony, as showing 
how much work has been and still remains to be done ; and with 
a view to increasing the knowledge and usefulness of the microscope, 
especially among the younger investigators, it has been decided to set 
apart special evenings during the year for its study and manipulation, 
in the hope that students may be induced to join, and thus strengthen 
the committee in their endeavours to maintain the present successful 
position of the Microscopical Society of Victoria. 
On the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Mr. Sydney Gibbons, 
the report was adopted. 
The President then read a paper " On Observations and Experi- 
ments with the Microscope on the Nature and Character of the 
Blood." He stated that as the time was limited he could not enter 
very largely into the subject, and must therefore deal briefly with it. 
He pointed out that in the higher animals the colour of the blood was 
red, but in the lower forms of life it was colourless, with a few granules 
diffused through it. When we come to look at it in the fish and 
reptile, and onwards in the bird and mammal, we find that it becomes 
of a redder colour. This colour was due to the immense number of 
particles of which the blood is composed — each particle being in reality 
very slightly coloured of a yellowish-red tint. The blood-corpuscles are 
of very minute dimensions, so that 3300 of the red will lie in a row, 
and occupy only 1 inch. A rough calculation gives about 10,000,000 of 
these in a large thimbleful of blood, and we can very soon lose 
ourselves in trying to calculate what a number must be in a human 
body, which is known to contain over 100 oz. of this wonderful fluid. 
He then pointed out what was supposed to occur in the history of the 
