596 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 
Messrs. R. and J. Beck sent for exhibition two new Microscopes 
and a new form of Centrifuge, which were described by Mr. Hill. The 
Microscopes were in most respects similar to their well-known “National” 
pattern, but in place of the circular stage they were fitted with a 
large square stage ; one had a stand of the usual form, the other was 
made to fold and pack away in a case of the smallest possible size to 
contain the instrument and its accessories, for convenience and porta- 
bility. The centrifuge was a very well made instrument for separating 
and depositing rapidly matter held in suspension by various fluids ; it 
had been found efficient in the separation of the red corpuscles in 
blood, rendering it easy in this way to determine their relative pro- 
portion in a given quantity. The separation of cream from milk in 
two small glass tubes was shown in the room, the proportionate quantity 
in a cubic centimetre being read off at once on a scale. Mr. Hill also 
exhibited two Hand-Magnifiers, which had been constructed on a new 
formula, and were said to be perfectly aplanatic. 
Thinks were voted to Messrs. Beck for their exhibits. 
The President said there was an exhibition on the table consisting 
of part of a collection of Insects’ Eggs presented to the Society’s cabinet 
some years ago by Mr. J. T. Norman. The Society were greatly in- 
debted to Messrs. Swift and Son, who had lent the necessary Microscopes 
to display this exhibition, and he was sure the Fellows would join him in 
expressing thanks to Messrs. Swift. 
The President said that the Council had felt it their duty, in common 
with all the other learned Societies, to forward a message of congratula- 
tion to Her Majesty the Queen on the completion of the sixtieth year of 
her reign. An address had therefore been prepared and forwarded, and 
a reply had been received thereto. The text of both address and reply 
were read to the meeting as follows : — 
“ To the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty. 
May it please your Majesty, — 
We, your Majesty’s loyal and obedient subjects, the Fellows of the 
Royal Microscopical Society of London, most humbly beg to be allowed 
to offer to your Majesty the assurance of our sincere congratulations 
upon the completion by your Majesty of the sixtieth year of your 
Majesty’s reign, and of our earnest share in that great outburst of affec- 
tionate loyalty which has sprung so unmistakably from all peoples and 
all lands included within the limits of your Majesty’s vast Empire. 
It is to the Fellows of the Eoyal Microscopical Society matter of 
gratification and pride that the origin of the Society closely corresponds 
in point of time with the beginning of your Majesty’s reign, that the 
usefulness of the Society was recognised and its prestige enhanced by being 
incorporated by Royal Charter in the year 1866, that His Royal Highness 
the Prince of Wales has for years held the office of Patron, and that the 
labours of the Society may accordingly claim to have shared, however 
humbly, in that marvellous progress in Science, in Arts, and general 
