cii GENERAL SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC AND 



is now added, and the solution filtered. It should present a 

 clear, dark -violet color; if, instead of this, it is dirty red, 

 more alum must be incorporated. This fluid colors very 

 rapidly, and will not wash out; but the aniline blue will do 

 so unless precaution be taken. 



The picro-carminate of ammonia, invented by M. Ranvier, 

 stains tissues in several colors, varying from a bright red 

 to an intense yellow. In the epidermis, for example, it dis- 

 tinguishes three layers : 



I. Superficially the horny -layer, consisting of flattened 

 cells : intense yellow. 



II. An intermediate layer, cells filled with granules : bright 

 red. 



III. A layer of cells under this, colored dull yellow, with 

 their iviclei stained red. 



The picro-carminate is made by mixing 



Carmine (best) 1 gramme. 



Liq. Ammonise 4 cub. centimeters. 



Water 200 grammes. 



Add to the mixture five grammes of picric acid; agitate 

 and decant ; the liquor is to be left several days, and agitated 

 from time to time; it may then be evaporated to dryness, 

 and the red powder kept for use. The liquid is made by 

 dissolving two parts of powder in one hundred of water, and 

 filtering; to prevent fungi, a few drops of carbolic acid may 

 be added. 



News of Bathybius. The continual references in zoological 

 writings to this interesting structure make it desirable to 

 record the latest information that has come to hand bearing 

 upon this supposed organism. It must be remembered that 

 the Bathybius of to-day is not Huxley's Bathybius, but 

 Haeckel's. Professor Huxley suggested the association of 

 coccoliths and coccospheres with the albuminoid slime, 

 which he clearly demonstrated to exist in specimens of At- 

 lantic ooze, and which gives to that ooze a peculiar glain 

 character. Professor Haeckel removed the coccoliths from 

 association with this albuminous material, showing that they 

 were either formed in a Radiolarian frequenting the surface, 

 or were independent surface organisms taken as food near the 

 surface by that Radiolarian. There remained, then, the al- 



