66 
would be fitted with it when their owners had seen its 
working. 
Mr. Hurst wished meanwhile to draw the particular atten- 
tion of the members to the extraordinary beauty and clear- 
ness with which opaque objects — hitherto the despair of 
microscopists — were displayed by these methods of illumina- 
tion, some being shown as clearly as if enlarged into a rela- 
tively gigantic model and viewed by the naked eye. Another 
peculiarity connected with them is, that as the object glass 
itself acts as a condenser, the amount of light is increased 
with the magnifying power of the object glass, contrary to 
the effect of other modes of illumination. 
Mr. Hurst thought the subject was in its infancy and that 
great improvements would yet be made, but that the idea of 
Mr. H. E. Smith, of making the object glass its own illumi- 
nator, would prove to be one of the greatest steps in modern 
microscopic science, and, as improved upon by Mr. Dancer, it 
was one so costless in price and rapid in its adjustment that 
every microscopist, however economical either of time or 
money, could readily avail of its assistance. 
Mr. Coward then exhibited some interesting plants from 
India, illustrating abnormal forms of different natural fami- 
lies, especially of Leguminosese. 
