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Who are we? We are the Quekett Microscopical Club. Founded in 1865, the Club is second only in seniority to the Royal Microscopical Society, but the first members deliberately chose to call themselves a 'Club' rather than a society to emphasize the amateur nature of the membership. Nonetheless we are both a registered charity and a 'learned society' and our Journal is a reputable scientific publication, citable in other journals and papers. We also publish a less formal Bulletin, full of tips, hints and articles, as well as reports of our regular monthly meetings, and of course, this Web Site.

We welcome all amateurs and beginners!

- and also hope there will plenty to interest the more advanced microscopist

Non-members (and some new members too) may wonder why we are called the Quekett. It is after a famous Victorian surgeon and microscopist - John Quekett. Ven Dodge, a senior member and former President of the Club, has contributed this biography, complete with a contemporary portrait. Also some more about The Quekett.

If you like what you see here then join by contacting our Subscriptions Manager is Peter Thomas - please click here for details

The rotifer Brachionus angularis seen under dark ground illumination. This species is a true plankter, and is normally found in the open water of lakes and large ponds. It does, however possess a foot. Perhaps this species is evolving, and in time will lose this foot and become a more typical planktonic species. Come back in a few thousand years and we'll see! Photograph Tony Saunders-Davies

 

 

Brian Darnton is a well-known specialist in forams (foraminifera). Forams are tiny single-celled organisms whose calcereous shells make up such geological structures as the White Cliffs of Dover and others. They are also of great importance in helping geologists find oil and other mineral deposits. This photograph is of some of Brian's splendid 'Marine Museum' collection. A few years ago I took one of Brian's type slides, and together with Malcolm Thain, made collections and identified a number of Mediterranean forams. Photograph - Brian Darnton

Notes from the Webmaster:

I have restructured this site. I felt it was becoming too diffuse and difficult to find an appropriate entry. So I have placed a navigation 'bar' just below these notes. In future items will carry a bracketed direction to the appropriate area where there will be an index of that area. I hope this will meet with approval - please let me know! In a similar fashion to the Journal and Bulletin I will keep entries for the last 6 months or so on the front page. Previous items will still be available, but only from the appropriate sub-folder (Reports, Links etc.) Do explore these since I am sure that new visitors will find much to interest them there.

Note - Tony Jarratt has kindly agreed to look after the 'Links' section, and I am very grateful to him.

March 2004:

The bad news is that the Club Journal is now sold out. The good news is that there is now an updated version now available which covers all the editions of the Journal from 1868 to 1992! This digital version of the Journal is now available either as a set of four CDs or as a single DVD. Both are priced at 85 pounds, inclusive of postage and packing.

New! Report on the Reading Convention. Go to Reports.

New! Report on the Dorking March 2004 meeting. Go to Reports.

New! News of the meeting to be held at the delightful village of Langton Matravers, in Dorset on 15th May. Go to Meetings

New! The Club programme for 2004. Go to Resources.

A very interesting letter from Don Thomson, describing some new high intensity LEDs. I know many members are using this type of illumination, including your Editor. I shall be placing an order soon. See letters.

A letter from Dr Smeltzer, seeking information on William Olley, who was active in microscopy just before the Club was founded. See letters.

Another two contributions (November and December) from the indefatigable Helios. Go to Others then Gallery/Helios/more.

The contents of the Winter 2003 Journal - Go to Resources.

A report on the 2003 Exhibition of Microscopy. Go to Reports.

The contents of the Winter 2003 Journal. Go to Resources.

Some more pictures from Steve Durr, former winner of the Barnard Medal for photomicography. Go to Others then Gallery/Steve Durr.

Another addition to the list of potted biographies of Committee members - Gianfranco (Franco) Novarino. Click here. Franco's interest in biology and microscopes was first aroused by using a 'toy' Japanese microscope - an experience somewhat similar to my own.

A report on the Quekett Weekend meeting at Buckingham. See Reports.

A report (courtesy of Brian Darnton) on the popular Langton Matravers meeting, Spring 2003.Go to Reports.

New! The contents of the latest Bulletin. Go to Resources.

NOTE: The 2004 QMC weekend event will be held at King Alfred's College, Winchester on Friday 16 to Sunday 18 July 2004

RECENT:

A comparative review of two reasonably priced guides to the diatoms. Go to Resources.

A review of a delightful new publication from Mike Samworth and Steve Gill. Go to Resources.

A pictorial supplement to the 2002 Exhibition thanks to Colin Lamb. Go to Reports.

Colour illustrations to the Presidential Address, May 2002. Go to Others

A brief note on using the Canon S30 digital camera with a microscope. Go to Technical

A little while ago Ken Jones bought along a most unusual find from the Basingstoke Canal. See Others

A book review, and possibly an equipment review are in the pipeline.

The 'Gallery' section is now OPEN! This contains photomicrographs of some members' slides, and also I hope will include some examples from the Club's loan section. Go to 'Others' - this includes a new and important contributor - 'Helios'

New! It's all in

- thoughts and practical experiences on using consumer digital cameras for photomicograpy - see Technique

These two Dark Ground Illumination pictures were taken by Tony Saunders-Davies (with help from Norman Lewis to hold the camera steady!) of plant sections exhibited by Barry Ellam a Northants meeting. The one on the left is a transverse section of Marram, the sea grass, the one the right of Fucus. My hazy recollection is that the spicules in the Marram are silicate, to discourage browsing by herbivores.

A long-term business supporter of the Club, Microscopes +, run by Tony Myers, would like to point out his correct URL should be www.microscopesplus.co.uk - apologies Tony, I should have changed it some time ago.

It is often said that computers are isolating - people have a vision of a sad 'anorak' sitting in lonely solitude in front of his machine. My experience is just the opposite. Through the 'Net, and especially these pages, I have met people, whom although I have never met face to face, I am happy to call my friends. Such a one is Fred Longrigg (and his wife, Sarah) living up in Scotland. He and I have had a long and interesting email correspondence, and his experiences as microscopist on the island of Eigg (without electricity!) make fascinating reading, which I'm happy to reproduce here.

More contributions are needed, particularly from beginners and newcomers. Let us know what bought you into the Club, and whether we are fulfilling your needs. Tell us your own experiences starting microscopy - while there are many professional and expert users remember "We welcome all amateurs and beginners!"

Most members at some meeting or other will have encountered the bearded Ernie Ives, with fine examples of marquetry, and a selection of what must be a superb library of slides of woods. Now he has made his experiences available to all by publishing a book on the subject, which John Garrett has kindly reviewed (see in'Resources') - .

I expect most people don't associate Michael Faraday with making slides - but he did! And our member [Prof] Ryan Tweeney has been doing research on these over the past few years. He gave a most interesting talk at a gossip some weeks ago, and now has a web site with more details - the link is here

The Letters page includes one from Ron Neumeyer who runs an excellent site for microscopists - link here. If you have time do look at these letter pages - they often include requests for information, advice or help, which I am sure many members will be able to provide, and will be very much appreciated by the recipients. They include one from Aaron Messing which helps make a point: Aaron says 'Frankly, your members have far more experience to share with me than I can offer them.' But the rest of his letter goes on to disprove this! Although an amateur Aaron is clearly an experienced and competent microscopist who has persuaded his children of the value of investigating the natural world, and I know that his experiences are of interest to many others, including myself.

The Royal Microscopical Society is primarily for the professional scientist while we, the Quekett Microscopical Club, are primarily for the amateur, although we have many highly skilled expert and professional members as well. Let's use these pages to help the beginner, and the less knowledgeable people out there, to get help, and exchange ideas and experiences. So, however much of a beginner you are, let's hear from you!

THIS EDITION'S PICTURE:

From a beautiful slide lent by Fred Price of the diatom Licomorpha splendidens Stained with safranin. Splendid indeed. Two more pictures of this diatom with different types of illumination appear in 'Pictures of the Edition' in 'Others'

Note - I try to keep these pages as up-to-date as possible and with as much news as possible. If anyone who has anything to do with a local meeting would like to send me a report of it I would be happy to put it up here.

Steve Durr, was awarded the Barnard Medal for photomicography at the Millennium Exhibition. Two of his fine photomicrographs have now been moved into The Gallery (see Other) - both using Nomarski Interference Contrast.

The list of potted biographies of Committee members continues to grow (see below. If any Committee member reads this whom I haven't contacted please send me something on these lines - see below for email address. The feedback on what has been published so far is very positive.

CDROMS - Mike Samworth and Steve Gill have produced an excellent set of utilities to facilitate use of the Club Journal on CDROM. I cannot do them justice, but here is a link to a full description of what they can do. There is also some other useful stuff on the disk. The price is a very modest £10. This enterprising duo have published or are in the process of publishing a whole range of rare works on CDROM, such as Cole's "Studies in Microscopical Science" which has been very positively reviewed by Brian Bracegirdle (Journal Editor). Click here to download a Word document with a full listing of products and prices (which are incredibly low).

Savona Books are the official agent for the Club - Savona Books

Click here for some more information about the Club. And here you can email the Subscription Manager to request an application form.

Potted biographies: So far we have: Franco Novarino Brian Bracegirdle Bryan Tabor Tony Dutton Phil Greaves Joan Bingley Allan Brinkworth Maurice Moss. Barry Ellam Myself! (Tony Saunders-Davies) Well, I am a Committee member, and editor (Webmaster) of these pages Fred Price Vaughan Dodge Charles Hussey Tony Jarratt Please write! (anthonypsd (at) aol (dot) dom - in an attempt to cut massive amounts of spam I have coded this - 'dot' stands, of course, for '.' ) We'd love to hear from you and publish your email here If you're a member and you've found a book useful - WRITE AND TELL ME ABOUT IT!

Important items from former editions: The CDROM The complete 'Journal' from 1865 to 1992, which is now available on CD-ROM. Some notes - Charles Hussey points out that it was never intended to be OCR material (but I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the more sophisticated programs will be able to do this). Secondly the pages print very well, so you can always get hardcopy if you need it. Click here for Charles' description Howard (Chico) Taylor, one of our American members, is an experienced microscopist and freshwater biologist, and has contributed a number of chapters of what promises to be a substantial book. Some more from him here. In the pipeline: The latest contribution from Howard (Chico) Taylor on handling small organisms. An illustrated report of a typical gossip meeting. I hope this will be of interest to people who may be thinking of joining the club and wonder what goes on at these meetings.