At the 860th Meeting of the Academy held June 14, 1893 in the Physiological Lecture Room of the Harvard Medical School in Boston, physician and Member Harold C. Ernst, using diagrams, lantern slides, and live samples, explained the methods of investigation in the relatively new field of bacteriology. As reported in the Academy's Proceedings, Members examined "[c]ultures of bacteria, including pathogenic and non-pathogenic organisms, in various nutrient media, each one, so far as possible, grown upon the standard media, in tube and plate culture, and the various cultures of the same organism grouped together and labelled with the common name; so that each one could be seen growing upon one or more of the following materials: nutrient gelatine (plain or with glycerine), nutrient agar-agar (plain or with glycerine), potato, bouillon, blood serum, milk, peptone, bread paste. Thus an opportunity was afforded for a comparative study of a number of varieties of bacteria under similar conditions." Members also viewed "preparations placed under the microscope, showing the various appearances of the bacteria in tissues and in pure culture."