58 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[March 1, 1S66. 



condenser, or when fluid was admitted to the 

 object, the colours vanished, and nouglit but the 

 indistinct striae of the scale, and the cracks or breaks 

 in the laminae, remained visible to give a clue to the 



Fig. 65. Scales of Diamond Beetle x 450. 



possible cause of the resplendent glories adorning 

 the insects in question. 



I have tried the new illuminator for opaque 

 objects under high powers (Smith & Beck's 

 pattern) on the wings and scales of insects, and 

 find the results are important. Surface-markings 



Fig. 66. Damaged Scale of Morpho Men.etd.us, \ objective, 

 with Smith & Beck's patent illuminator. 



are rendered much more distinct, and appearances 

 are presented which are quite novel. The best light 

 is a narrow flame, obtainable by turning the lamp 

 round, a small condenser at the proper distance 

 between it and the aperture in the side of the illu- 

 minator, being interposed, to modify it. The objects 

 should be mounted on dead-black paper and un- 

 covered, and the object-glass accurately adjusted to 

 suit this condition. The performance of the objec- 

 tives is not at all impaired, but there is a certain 

 amount of flare, due perhaps to superabundance of 

 light, or reflections, which it would be desirable 



to get rid of. This, I understand, is also the case 

 with the similar appliance made by Powell and 

 Lealand. These instruments may yet be improved 

 in this point ; but it is probable that, as they are 



Fig. 67. Scales of Pieris Brassic® ' objective, with same 

 illuminator. 



made more complex, the price, which is now so 

 reasonable, will be greatly increased. 



Surely, none can contemplate the minute speci- 

 mens of Divine handiwork, referred to in this paper, 

 without a feeling of awe at the infinite skill of the 

 Creator. The elaborate ornamentation of the scales 

 on a butterfly's wing, which are numbered by 

 hundreds of thousands, and in some even by 

 millions, on a single insect, cannot be adequately 

 copied by the pencil, and we have to be content 

 with a general approximation. 



Compared with the richness of the dress worn by 



these humble creatures in the scale of life, what are 



the tawdry gewgaws with which human beings 



delight to deck themselves? Look at one scale 



from the Diamond Beetle, and say to what jewel it 



can be likened ; so many colours of brightest hue 



does it transmit to the eye. 



S. J. MTntiee. 



SIMPLE OBJECTS— XL 



SPH^EKIA HEKBARTJM. 



AT this season of the year, and for two or three 

 months to come, the dead stems of herbaceous 

 plants, and small twigs from trees, will be found 

 sprinkled with little pustules, or black dots, in many 

 cases not so large as a pin's head, and which are 

 exceedingly interesting microscopic objects. The 

 majority of these little dots are minute fungi, belong- 

 ing to the group known as the Sphariacei, the struc- 

 ture of which we can best illustrate by a definite 

 species, and have, therefore, selected one which is 

 very common on herbaceous stems ; whence it is 

 named Sphceria herbarum. 



Eirst of all let us examine our object with an inch 

 objective in situ. The little black spot is perhaps 

 covered still by the epidermis. Later in the season 

 the cuticle will be thrown off; now it may be ne- 

 cessary to remove it. The black body is nearly 

 spherical, slightly flattened at the base, and sur- 



