233 
MICROSCOPICAL SECTION. 
March 17tli, 1862. 
E. W. Binney, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S., in the Chair. 
Twelve specimens of soundings were received from Captain 
George Randall, of the barque “Brazil,” taken on the north 
coast of Brazil ; also five specimens from Captain George 
Murray, of the ship “ Finzel,” taken off Robin Island, Table 
Bay ; coasts of Sumatra, Java, and St. Helena. 
Mr. H. A. Hurst made a donation of eight slides of 
diatomacese of various kinds ; also specimens of fibre from 
the Bombax, or East Indian Cotton Tree, and the fibre of 
the Asclepias Syriacus from Bengal. Some conversation 
arose upon the adaptation of these fibres as substitutes for 
cotton, but, although fine and silky, there is not sufficient 
strength in the staple to render them fit for manufacturing 
purposes. 
Mr. Blandford presented, through Mr. Hurst, a number 
of specimens of the tongues of mollusca from Burmah, upon 
which Dr. Thomas Alcock reported that there were four 
species, two being fresh water, Melania variabilis ; a species 
of Paludomus ; and two land shells, different species of 
Cyclophorus. 
Cyclophorus belongs to a section of the order Pulmonata, 
distinguished by having an operculum or door to the mouth 
of the shell, and by having a type of teeth similar to that of 
the Pectinibrancliiata. Cyclostoma elegans is a British 
representative of the same group. 
Mr. Cheetitam exhibited a prism, which he uses to 
illuminate objects under the microscope with the variously 
