94 
PROCEEDINGS OP THE SOCIETY. 
The President inquired if Dr. Dixon found that glycerine would 
do as well as castor-oil with the Wenham illuminator. 
Dr. Dixon thought that glycerine would not answer the purpose 
so well. The greater viscidity of castor-oil allowed a greater range 
of focus ; and for the same reason it would not so readily run off 
the face of the illuminator. 
Mr. Stephenson said he had tried this and other immersion plans 
of illumination, and had resolved without difficulty Amphipleura and 
other difficult diatoms in balsam. He thought the fact was very 
often overlooked, that with a dry condenser of the widest angle it 
was hardly possible to resolve the fine lines of balsam objects ; but 
with an immersion condenser it would be quite possible ; and he might 
say that the resolving power of a Zeiss’s immersion objective would 
be at least 10 per cent, greater on a balsam object than that of a dry 
lens of 180° on an object in air. 
Mr. T. Curties said that Mr. West, who had been very successful 
in producing Lissajou’s curves microscopically upon glass, was pre- 
sent, and had brought some specimens, which were exhibited under 
microscopes in the room. 
Mr. West said that most persons were familiar with these curves 
as drawn upon paper, so that he need say very little in the way of 
describing them. He had been successful in drawing them upon 
glass upon a very small scale, and he was told that they possessed 
some value as test objects. He believed he owed much of the success 
to the excellence of the diamond point which had been supplied to 
him by Messrs. Beck. The appearance of solidity in many of the 
figures had attracted attention, and was rather curious. The chief 
difficulty in exhibiting these objects was in obtaining a proper kind 
of illumination. 
In reply to a question from the President, Mr. West stated that 
these figures were drawn directly upon the glass. 
The President said that, in returning to the old practice of having 
tea and coffee at the close of their meetings, they hoped to somewhat 
increase their social character, and for this purpose they should 
endeavour to get the business of the evening over by nine o’clock, so as 
to leave a little time afterwards for conversation and the exhibition of 
any objects which might be brought by any of the Fellows. He hoped, 
therefore, that if any Fellow of the Society had objects which he 
wished to exhibit or to ask questions about, he would bring them 
down to the meetings. At their scientific evenings they should 
adhere to the plan which they had found to work so well — that 
of bringing objects of special interest which could not be seen else- 
where ; but the field of research was so great, that it was quite likely 
that a person well acquainted with one particular branch might find 
objects of another kind which were unfamiliar to him, and about which 
he might be glad to have the opinions of others at the ordinary 
meetings. 
The following gentlemen were elected Fellows of the Society, 
viz. : — John Davis, Esq. ; George Eaynor, Esq. ; Francis Boughton 
Kyngdon, Esq. ; and the Kev. G. E. Watts, M.A. 
