ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
821 
Powell & Lealand, of London, exhibited a large Microscope, said to 
be the most perfect as regards its stand. Hartnack, of Potsdam, had 
Microscopes and object-glasses, with pliotomicrographic fittings. J. Deby, 
London, displayed a collection of instruments by various modern makers 
with manifold appliances for illumination, arrangement for obtaining 
monochromatic light, as also a rich and interesting collection of pre- 
parations. 
Adnet, and also Waiusegg, of Paris, and Seibert, of Vienna, exhibited 
a variety of bacteriological apparatus. 
It strikes us as remarkable that no spectroscopic apparatus seems to 
have been exhibited. 
The ‘ Chemiker Zeitung ’ remarks, with perfect justice, that it is impos- 
sible for an expert to pronounce on the value of any instrument, so long 
as it can only be seen in a glass case. 
Meeting of American Microscopists.* — Dr. J. S. Billings, of the 
Army Medical Staff, in welcoming the visitors to Washington, said : — 
“ The President, Ladies and Gentlemen : It is my pleasant duty this 
morning to bid you welcome to Washington and to say to you that you 
are to make yourselves very much at home here. 
Washington, as the capital of the country, is, in fact, the natural and 
proper home of all national associations, and they are beginning to 
discover this, for the number of such gatherings here increases every 
year. Within the last twenty years this city has become not only one 
of the most beautiful cities in the world, but has become one of the 
great scientific and literary centres of this country. The needs of 
different departments of the Government for accurate and precise infor- 
mation upon many subjects connected with their work have brought 
together here in the different bureaus many men specially trained in 
modern methods of investigation and research, each working some par- 
ticular line, and more or less of an expert upon some one particular 
subject, yet also interested in the general progress of knowledge and the 
results obtained by his fellow-workers. Hence it is that our local 
scientific societies are numerous, well attended, and have an abundant 
supply of material to interest their members ; more so, probably, than 
the majority of local societies in other larger cities. Among these associa- 
tions, we number an active and flourishing Microscopical Society, for 
although the Government has no department or bureau exclusively 
devoted to this subject, yet in almost every department and in many of 
the bureaus there are, and must be men who are familiar with the use of 
the Microscope, or they could not answer the questions which are liable 
to come before them at any moment. You may be sure, therefore, that 
the American Microscopical Society will always find an appreciative and 
interested audience for its papers and discussions here. 
Of the numerous bureaus of the Government which make use of and 
are interested in the Microscope and microscopic technique, there is 
none which makes more constant use of this method of investigation, 
and none which in times past has done more to stimulate improvements 
in microscopy, than the medical department of the army, including the 
Army Medical Museum. The improvements in microscopic objectives 
* Amer. Mon. Micr. Journ., xii. (1891) pp. 193-5. 
