Mr. Stiles read a paper on “Diatoms & their Sources”
Beginning with a description of these interesting microscopic plants & their place in the Vegetable Kingdom, he gave a detailed account of their structure, form mode of increase, & distribution. The indestructability of their siliceous skeletons, & their great beauty have at all times attracted the attention of workers with the microscope & have furnished an endless field of study, & one full of interest in all departments. The mode of collection, cleaning, & mounting was described at some length. Reference was then made to the important part played by these tiny organisms in building up deposits in various parts of the world. The economic use of these deposits was touched upon, notably Tripoli, Kieselguhr, & a very pure recently discovered deposit termed Dimatos. In illustrating their beauty & variety of shape numerous photo-micrographs were shown, & at the close of the paper a number of the more striking forms were exhibited under several microscopes.