202 
engaged in the examination of spirit specimens from the Fiji 
Islands, at present it is only necessary to state that the Tubipora 
musica is an Alcyonarian ; that it belongs to the section of the 
Alcyonidae ; that it is very well entitled to form a sub-family, 
Tubiporidinse, distinguished by the peculiar mode of growth by 
which the external tabulae are formed, and by the peculiar spicules 
(calcareous) found in the ectodermic layer of both tentacles and 
body ; that the tube is formed of consolidated spicules, which 
are of two sorts, and are not consolidated in the upper part of the 
tube ; that there is no communication between the Polpys ; that 
the tabulae take their orgin as flat buds from the disk of the Polyp, 
and that in all probability this same bud is also the starting-point 
of each new zooid form of polyp. 
Royal Miceoscopical Society. 
January 13 th, 1869. 1 
The Peesident in the chair. 
Gr. A. Amos, Esq., and the Rev. T. R. Jones, were elected 
Fellows. 
A paper was read by Dr. Charlton Bastian “ On the Mounting 
and Tinting of Animal Tissues.” In speaking of the mounting of 
sections of liver and kidney, the author stated that, ou the 
whole, he preferred a solution of Canada balsam in benzole, for the 
preparation of which he gave the following directions : 
Some Canada balsam must be carefully heated in a shallow pot 
for a certain time, so as to drive off as much as possible of the 
turpentine which it may contain ; then it should be poured into a 
small bottle, and sufficient benzole added for the solution of the 
balsam. After all the balsam has been dissolved, the solution 
should be filtered through very thin filtering-paper into a stop- 
pered bottle, and so kept in store, what is required for immediate 
use being poured into one of Highley’s drop-bottles. The prepa- 
rations may then be mounted in this solution in either of two 
ways : — 1st. The section cut from a hardened organ is allowed to 
remain in a watch-glass with some spirits of wine for two or three 
minutes, then a drop of carbolic acid having been placed upon 
the glass slip on which the specimen is to be mounted, the section 
is taken from the watch-glass on the tip of a small scalpel, its de- 
pendent edge brought into contact for a moment with a piece of 
clean blotting-paper, and then gently laid on the surface of the car- 
bolic acid. This renders a thin section perfectly transparent in 
about half a minute. The superfluous carbolic acid should then 
be got rid of by tilting the slide and applying a small piece of 
1 In the ‘ Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society’ this meeting is 
erroneously reported as having occurred Dec. 13th. We may also correct 
another error in the same journal, p. 62, in which a meeting is stated to 
have taken place as far ahead as 1968. 
