86 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 
MEETING] 
Held on the 16th of December, 1896, at 20 Hanover Square, W., 
the President (A. D. Michael, Esq., F.L.S.) in the Chair. 
In the unavoidable absence of the Senior Secretary, the minutes of 
the meeting of 18th November last were read by Mr. J. J. Yezey, and 
having been duly confirmed, were signed by the President. 
The President said that it would be seen that their Assistant Secretary, 
Mr. Brown, was not with them as usual that evening. Probably they 
might have noticed that there had been a serious breakdown in his 
health lately in consequence of several attacks of influenza, and that 
one result had been that matters had of late not been going on as well 
as could be wished. Things, however, seemed to have come to a crisis, 
and Mr. Brown had suddenly absented himself from the office and also 
from his home, and was missing for several days. He had, however, 
now returned home, but was laid up in a state of “ brain fever.” Under 
these circumstances there was some considerable confusion in the office, 
and the affairs of the Society had naturally suffered from the want of 
attention given to them of late. The Council had held a somewhat pro- 
tracted sitting that evening to determine what was best to be done in the 
interests of the Society, and it became his duty to inform the Fellows 
that Mr. Brown was no longer in the service of the Society. In the 
temporary difficulty in which they had found themselves placed, their 
friend Mr. F. A. Parsons had ccme to their assistance, and had under- 
taken the duties of Assistant Secretary in Mr. Brown’s place. They of 
course, greatly regretted the necessity which had arisen for parting 
with Mr. Brown, but under the circumstances it was, they feared, un- 
avoidable. 
Mr. C. L. Curties exhibited and described a new microtome, the 
chief features of which were that the knife was advanced towards the 
material after every cut, instead of the material being moved towards the 
knife. The bed on which the substance was fixed could also be rotated 
so as to meet the cutter at any angle. Perfectly flat sections could be 
cut with it of any thickness from 1/80 in. to 1/400 in. It was con- 
structed so as to run very easily and smoothly. 
The President said he had, through the kindness of Mr. Curties, 
