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PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
San Francisco Microscopical Society. 
The meeting of the San Francisco Microscopical Society was held 
on July 19, with Mr. C. L. Murdock in the chair. 
Colonel C. Mason Kinne exhibited the luminous larvae of some 
more fully developed insect, which emitted, at night, from the under 
part of the last two segments of the body, a very brilliant light, similar 
to that of the fire-fly of the Eastern States. They were found by 
C. S. Capp, Esq., on the ground, close by the flume near Pillarcitos 
Lake, in San Matteo county, and the trio of glow-worms will be handed 
to Mr. H. Edwards for identification. 
Mr. E. J. Wickson brought before the members a very interesting 
matter in the shape of some coffee-berries, which were filled with 
hundreds of acari. He stated, as he placed a fragment of the berry 
on the stage, that there was received, some time since, from Mr. Morris, 
the Liberian Commissioner to the Centennial Exposition, a number of 
capsules containing the ripened seeds of the well-known Liberian coffee. 
These were planted some weeks ago, and as they failed to germinate, 
he naturally desired to ascertain the reason, and, removing some of 
the kernels from the ground and the outer shell, he found the sub- 
stance of the coffee-berry in a soft and decomposing condition. The 
suspicious appearance of a mealy mass in one caused him to probe the 
matter further, and by means of the microscope he soon found that 
the interior of all the capsules were filled with a kind of acarus, which 
bore a strong resemblance to the sugar insect. 
Under a two-tliirds objective, the members could see the young 
and also the fully developed acarus, busily engaged in the pursuit of 
happiness, by absorbing the moisture from the decaying mass. As 
the berries had been some weeks under ground, there seemed to be 
considerable ground for conjecture as to how they had become en- 
sconsed in so fruitful a home for them. The acari having received 
some attention from Colonel Kinne, and the members being desirous 
of knowing more of the characteristics of this variety, Mr. Wickson 
handed a kernel to the Colonel, for the purpose of a careful study of 
the minute parts, by which the species are identified. 
Dr. Winter, who has just returned from an extended trip south, 
stated that the scale insect, and other pests which have received the 
attention of microscopists and entomologists, he has been able to 
remove from a hundred orange trees, which he selected for the purpose 
of the experiment from his grove at Orange, about seven miles from 
Anaheim, by a systematic and free use of whale-oil soap and water 
applied with a brush. The trees are a third larger than the others, 
and generally more thrifty from this system of grooming. 
Colonel Kinne alluded to a very pleasant microscopical reception 
given by Dr. S. M. Mouser, in his new lecture-room, built in the rear 
of his dwelling, at 707, Bush Street. 
