PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 
91 
Las caused the Council to seriously consider the possibility of continuing 
the Journal on the lines which have led to its universal reception as 
one of the most useful aids to biological investigation now published. 
It will be the duty of the Council elected to night to take into prompt 
consideration the immediate future of the Journal. 
If the Journal is to be continued as heretofore in future years, it is 
clear that the Council must have confidence in the financial stability of 
the Society. 
Owing to Messrs. Williams and Norgate’s cheque for the first six 
months of 1896 not having been received till 5th January, 1897, a sum 
of 138Z. 19s. 4d. has to he further credited to the Journal [as also a sum 
of 21 Z. 3s. 5 d. from Messrs. Dulau, received 23rd January, 1897], but 
cannot be entered on the balance sheet. 
Advertisements . — The amount received under this head is a good deal 
larger than last year. 
ROOMS. 
The attendance on Wednesday evenings other than the meeting 
nights has been so rare and scanty that it is not proposed to burden the 
Assistant Secretary who is shortly to be appointed with this duty. 
The pressure on our wall space has been partly relieved by the offer 
of our landlords to give us storage room in the basement, which we have 
gratefully accepted. 
INSTRUMENTS AND APPARATUS. 
An old Microscope by Cary has been bought for 1/. 
New Standard Sizing Gauges for Microscopic Object-Glasses. — The 
Society during the past year lias issued fresh gauges for the standard 
screw-thread of Microscope object-glasses. The so-called Universal 
screw has hitherto been but an imperfect standard, and the Society has 
now placed the matter on a satisfactory basis. The original standard 
screw has been adhered to, but minute changes in the diameter have 
been made, and gauges issued for both the external and internal threads 
which, while not interfering with the interchangeability of previous 
object-glasses and Microscope nose-pieces which have been correctly 
made to the original standard, allows a slightly larger margin for error 
in individual lenses. The new gauges, if adopted by all manufacturers 
and regularly used, will produce entire interchangeability for the future, 
and incorrect screws already in use may be standardised by being 
passed through the new gauges. It is satisfactory to note that already 
the most prominent English manufacturers have adopted the gauges, and 
the Society is in correspondence with foreign firms on the matter. 
LIBRARY. 
Under this heading, the Council may refer to the painful circum- 
stances which marked the close of last year. Mr. W. H. Brown, who was 
appointed Librarian and Assistant Secretary in 1891, gained the confi- 
dence of the Officers and the general approval of the Fellows. In 1895, 
and again in 1896, he was certainly the victim of the mysterious affec- 
