Conversaziones, 1962

Abstract

Conversaziones were held this year on 10 May and 28 June, and in addition a further special reception on 17 July was held to celebrate the tercentenary of the granting of the Society’s first Charter. An account of this reception will be found on page no. At the first conversazione on 10 May there were 27 exhibits and a film. An exhibit of great interest was provided by the National Institute for Medical Research which showed some of the recent research which has been carried out on trachoma, the chronic disease which is the greatest single cause of blindness. The Institute’s Trachoma Research Unit had investigated the disease in a Gambian village and the demonstration showed its clinical features and their incidence, age distribution, and relationship to the presence of the trachoma agent. The National Institute for Medical Research also provided two other exhibits, the first showing the progress which has been made towards the cultivation of the leprosy bacillus. Electron microscope measurements illustrated the development of the cell-free media which supports the growth, but not the multiplication of M. lepraemurium . The other exhibit showed a newly developed technique for the measurement of single bacterial cells. The spark chamber hodoscope which demonstrated the recording of trajectories of charged particles was exhibited by the Nuclear Physics Group of the Clarendon Laboratory and aroused considerable interest.