352 
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
exhibited several varieties of Bulimus acutus, from different localities. 
Under the microscope, Mr. Tylar showed a slide of Thymol in process 
of crystallisation, by polar light. Mr. J. W. Neville, Diatomacese, from 
deposit in Black Root pool, Sutton Park; Mr. Moore, tongue of stag beetle 
(Lucanus cervus). November 10th.— Annual Meeting for the election 
of officers for the ensuing year. Mr. C. E. Beale, C.E., was elected 
president, and Messrs. H. Hawkes and J. W. Neville, vice-presidents. 
The retiring president, Mr. J. W. Neville, then delivered an address 
on “ The Offensive and Defensive Weapons of Insects,” remarking that 
as the subject was a wide one, he should only take that part of it that 
referred directly to ourselves. It might appear necessary to some to 
apologise for introducing into respectable company some of the insects 
to which he should have occasion to refer. But these would not be 
naturalists, for naturalists studied living objects as they were, whether 
they pleased the sentiments or no. The offensive weapons of the 
following insects were then referred to : Pediculus capitis, Nepa cinerea, 
Notonecta glauca, Cimex lectularius, and Pulex irritans. The peculiarities 
of their mouth organs were described and compared with a typical 
insect’s mouth, that of the ground beetle, Carabus, when the remark¬ 
able departure from a probable original type was made apparent. In 
the latter part of the subject the sting of the wasp was described with 
its complicated mechanism of poison bag, duct with chitinous rings, 
pistons for ejecting poison, lancets, etc. The address concluded by 
regretting that the labours of inicroscopists were often of a desultory 
character, and pointing out the advantages of more special pursuits. 
The use of the various forms and ornamentation of pollen grains was 
suggested as good ground to be worked by microscopic botanists. The 
Entomostraca, Diatomacese, and Desmidiacese of the district were 
mentioned as fields of labour where good and useful work was required, 
and local catalogues much needed. The address was illustrated by 
diagrams. 
LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
—Section D. Zoology and Botany. —The monthly meeting of the 
Section was held on Wednesday evening, November 19th. Members 
present, twenty-one. Miss Shenton exhibited a number of beautiful 
coloured drawings of Leicestershire Fungi, her own work ; Mr. W. A. 
Vice, very stunted specimens from the South Downs of Campanula 
glomerata and Jasione montana ; Mr. E. Bates, a specimen of moss from 
Kew Gardens enveloped in a mass of parasitic alga (Scytonema 
muscicola); Mr. F. T. Mott, a sample of water from Cropstone Reservoir 
containing a quantity of a minute granular alga l Codoxph cerium ?), 
which chokes the filter beds at this season ; also magnified and coloured 
drawings of the same. Mr. F. Bates read a short paper on the 
“ Measuring of Microscopic Objects,” and explained the method which 
he recommended, viz., to keep an eyepiece micrometer permanently 
in each ocular, to determine the value of its divisions for each power 
by a stage micrometer, and to make a table of these values in decimals 
of an inch and of a millimetre for ready reference. The size of any 
object in the field could then be determined with the least possible 
trouble. A discussion ensued on the importance of acquiring by 
practice facility in the use of the metric scale. It was necessary to 
fix in the mind the image of some metric datum. All Englishmen 
had a mental image of the inch. It would be well to acquire in a 
similar way an image of the millimetre, as the twenty-fifth of an inch, 
about equal to the thickness of a thick card. A sub-committee was 
appointed to consider the question of better accommodation, as the 
Section was outgrowing the present room at the museum. 
