HARDWICKE'S SCIEN C E-G OSSIP. 



Ill 



spread of interlopers by the extension of cultiva- 

 tion and use of foreign seeds.—/. B., Bradford 

 Abbas, 



Primrose OxLir. — I have this day picked from 

 a single root of primrose a scape of flowers, the 

 stem of which was four inches iu length, from which 

 proceeded six pedicles, the longest of which was 

 three inches, surmounted by large primrose flowers 

 of over an inch in diameter. Prom the same roots 

 proceeded the ordinary single-flowered primroses- 

 The general aspect of the plant is much that of the 

 the Primula officinali-vulgaris of the New English 

 Botany of Dr. Syme, tab. mcxxxiii., but the flowers 

 are of the size, colour, and substance of the prim- 

 rose, and should perhaps be called Primrose Oxlip, 

 rather than Cowslip Oxlip. We have always con- 

 sidered the oxlip to be a hybrid between the prim- 

 rose and cowslip ; and if so, probably our specimen 

 may be the result of hybridity between the oxlip 

 and the primrose.—/. B., Bradford Abbas. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Covering Objects.— I have been using lately a 

 very simple and efficient little instrument for fixing 

 the glass covers of microscopical preparations, — a 

 conical bullet, the flat bottom ground to a smooth 

 surface. A drop of water fixes the glass cover to 

 this by capillary attraction. The bullet is inverted, 

 and the edges of the cover painted with gold size. 

 It is then held by the pointed end, and the cover is 

 easily and correctly placed in position on the slide. 

 The bullet is left on until the gold size is dry. 

 Bubbles are more easily avoided by this means than 

 by gradually letting the cover down with a needle 

 or forceps.— T. Howse, junr., Highfiel d Sydenham 

 Rill. 



Trinacria regina — The Rev. Eugene O'Meara 

 exhibited at the Dublin Microscopical Club, on the 

 20th October, 1870, a specimen of this interesting 

 diatom from Arran. As our readers will remember, 

 this is one of the species found in the slate deposits 

 of Jutland, and recently figured in the journal of 

 the Quekett Microscopical Club. A second com- 

 munication by Mr. P. Kitton, describing some new 

 additional forms, appeared in the last number of 

 the same journal. 



Movable Table.— Our American friend, in the 

 last number of Science-Gossip, describes a movable 

 table or stand for the microscope and lamp. Having 

 had a very simple contrivance in use for some time, 

 perhaps you will allow me to describe it, in the 

 hope that it may be helpful to my fellow micro- 

 scopists. It consists of a piece of deal or other 

 wood, 1 inch thick, 11 inches wide, and 18 inches 



long ; over one side is stretched a piece of baize or 

 cloth, which is nailed on at the edges ; on the other 

 side is stretched a piece of thick enamelled cloth or 

 common enamelled leather, which is also nailed on 

 at the edges, and the neater this is done the better 

 it will look. The reason for having one side cloth 

 and the other side enamelled, is this : should the 

 table on which the microscope is to be exhibited 

 have a cover, on the enamelled side being placed 

 downwards it will slide as easily as any one could 

 wish. If the table be polished and no cover on, 

 then the cloth side should be placed downwards, 

 and it will slide with the greatest ease. I have 

 worked with several microscopic tables or stands, 

 but certainly prefer this : most tables in use per- 

 form a circle, whereas with this arrangement it does 

 not matter what shape the table is, it will doequally 

 well for all ; besides which it does not scratch the 

 table, is very firm and steady, is inexpensive, efficient 

 in working, and saves much time and trouble.— 

 Frederick Blankley. 



Anemone Infusoria. — Dr. Dick, in a little 

 treatise on the " Telescope and Microscope," pub- 

 lished by the Religious Tract Society, states 

 that "an infusion of anemone, prepared after 

 the ordinary manner, with cold water, at the end 

 of eight days will afford a new and uncommon 



animalcule All the surface of its back is 



covered with a very fine mask in the form of a 

 human face, perfectly well made." Is any reader 

 of Science-Gossip able to deny or verify this state- 

 ment ?— W. 



Q. M. O— Among the rising Londoners of to-day 

 who give themselves to microscopic recreation and 

 study, the " Quekett " is a great institution. The 

 work it is doing among young men in London who 

 have evening and Saturday afternoon leisure, has 

 got for it a name. The " Quekett " is the republic 

 of London microscopists and naturalists. It is the 

 popular, teaching, and working club of this metro- 

 polis. About six hundred members strong, it is 

 rapidly popularising natural history as a field pur- 

 suit in the summer months, and making the micro- 

 scope a fireside companion in the winter in many a 

 home. With the North London Naturalists' Pield 

 Club, and the Old Change Microscopical Society, 

 the "Quekett" is fast removing the reproach which 

 London has suffered from the naturalists of the 

 north. A Manchester visitor to our collecting 

 grounds to-day may hud plenty of kindred en- 

 thusiasts for nature on the Saturday afternoon. 

 Not to know of the " Quekett " and its work, is 

 to have a limited acquaintance with the Londoners 

 of the rising generation, and of the place the 

 microscope is taking in the pleasures and studies 

 of the period. — Saturday Afternoon Rambles round 

 London. 



