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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Bullets in Mounting. — In the last number 

 of Science-Gossip attention is called to the use of 

 conical bullets in putting on covers. I must confess I 

 do not see much advantage to be gained by so doing, 

 since the absence of bubbles in that mode of action 

 must be a matter of chance. By using fingers, 

 forceps, or needle, a sight is obtained of the object 

 during the whole time of mounting, and failure is 

 immediately detected. I have 

 used Enfield rifle bullets for 

 applying pressure during the 

 hardening of cement or balsam ; 

 but the Enfield bullet can 

 hardly be applied as above, 

 owing to the , hollow in its base. I fancy Dr. Dick 

 must have taken his statement] from an old 

 Erench work on the microscope by M. Joblat, 

 published in 1718, under the title of "Descriptions 

 et Usages de plusieurs nouveaux Microscopes." 

 The work has many copper-plate engravings, in- 

 cluding that of " the fine mask, with cherclure, in 

 the exact form of a human face." Your corre- 

 spondent may judge by the plates therein given of 

 some rotifers how much trust can be placed in 

 M. Joblat's assertion. — B. Daydon Jackson. 



Fish-tail Hairs of the Humble Bee. — Have 

 any of your readers ever noticed the fish-tail hairs 

 on the leg of the Humble Bee ? If not, permit me 

 to call your attention to a form which seems to me 

 very curious. Eirst, catch your bee. A good im- 

 promptu way of doing this is to watch a bee, till 

 he (more properly, she) settles on the ground, or 

 pries into a hole in the soil, and then throw your 

 handkerchief over the spot. The bee will soon 

 buzz up, and make a ballon monte of your bandana. 

 Give him more silk, and then constrict below, to 

 cut off his retreat. He may object to this by his 

 peculiar mode of veto, — to "wit, his sting. But this 

 will not be altogether without advantage ; for there 

 is a popular notion that the Humble Bee has no 

 sting ; and if the operator's finger for the next two 

 days at all resembles mine, he will not readily forget 

 this point of Natural History. On reaching home, 

 you open the handkerchief, bee flies to window, you 

 put a wide-mouthed diatom-bottle over him, slip a 

 card between the mouth of the bottle and the 

 window-pane, add chloroform to your taste, and 

 Bombus is ready for the next operation. With a 

 penknife scrape off the hairs that grow on the out- 

 side of the tibia (the joint next to the brush) : they 

 will probably adhere to the knife -point in a cluster, 

 but may be separated by putting a small drop of 

 water on a slide, and then distributing them in it 

 with a needle. Mount some dry and some in balsam, 

 for each method has something to show. Here is a 

 rough sketch of what I make out with a Ross's 



sixth. The hair is round, or nearly so, till close to 

 the apex, but not smooth, for the surface seems 10 

 be ribbed spirally. There is a medulla, best seen 

 in the balsam. But the curious part of the hair is 

 the tip, where it thins away, and spreads out in the 

 form of a fish's tail ; a form that it further resem- 

 bles in being marked with delicate striae running 

 to the edge like a fan. There is also a sort of 

 angular mark, of which the open end is towards the 

 apex, and the point towards the shaft. The thinned 



Fig. 73. Fish-tail Hair of Humble Bee. 



portion is quite hyaline, but the shaft is brown. 

 The hyaline tips of these hairs may be seen with a 

 low power (about forty diameters) like little bright 

 specks all over the tibia, and a few on the femur. 

 Hairs of analogous form appear on the tibia of 

 Apis mellifica, but, of course, much smaller. — 

 H. B., Woolwich. 



Scale or Common Carp.— In furnishing towards 

 our series of the scales of the British freshwater 

 fishes, the figure of the scale of the Common Carp, 

 we must ask our readers to compare this scale with 



Fig. T4. Scale of Common Carp. 



those of the Crucian and Prussian Carp, already 

 figured, and they will observe that it differs much 

 more from either than those differ from each other. 

 It is a very beautiful and characteristic scale. 



Pollen for Microscope.— Those who desire 

 to mount pollen for the microscope should specially 

 direct their attention lo the Composite and Mal- 

 vaceous plants. 



