162 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[July], 3866. 



MICROSCOPY. 



A Lost Veteran. — It is our painful duty to 

 record the death of another distinguished Botanist 

 and Microscopist. On the 4th of June Dr. R. K. 

 Greville, so well known for his elegant Scottish 

 Cryptogamic Flora, and his elaborate papers on 

 Diatomacese, passed to his rest.— Bequiescat in pace.] 



Seaside Microscope. — Messrs. Murray & Heath 

 have recently introduced "a new form of pocket sea- 

 side Microscope, which is remarkable for porta- 

 bility and efficiency. It consists of a sliding body, 

 to which a stage with springs is attached by a 



Q 



Fig. 155. 



stout arm, which secures perfect steadiness, and at 

 the same time removes the stage so far from the 

 body, that both opaque and transparent objects can 

 be examined. In this state it forms a convenient 

 hand microscope for out-of-door work. To make it 

 complete, a folding stand and mirror are provided, 

 shutting up quite flat, and then occupying only 

 five inches long by one inch wide, but making when 

 open a firm tripod ; on to this the microscope is 

 secured by a small claw at the bottom of the 

 stage, and a thumb-screw in the body. The instru- 

 ment is provided with a triple separating English 

 Achromatic, but being furnished with the Micros- 

 copic Society's thread, may be used with any 

 Object Glass. 



Cuticle of Orchis. — On examining the 

 epidermis of the under side of a fresh gathered leaf 

 of the lovely Orchis, to ascertain if it contained any 

 Haphides, I was surprised to' see in many of the 

 cells a large number of little colourless globules in 

 active motion. There was nothing like regular 

 circulation, such as you find in Valisneria. The 

 motion was more of a vibratory character, but so 

 distinct that there could be no mistake about it. 

 The smaller globules especially seemed, if I may 

 use the term, to be swarming. In the larger 

 globules was a spot like a nucleus. I submitted 



several portions of the epidermis to examination, 

 and in all of them found numerous cells in this 

 condition. As I have seen no record of anything 

 precisely similar in any botanical work, perhaps 

 some ol your readers will say if they have met 

 with anything of the kind. I may add that the 

 stomata of this plant are beautiful objects, with 

 their purple coloured mouths. I had on my micros- 

 cope a ^ths object-glass, with a .B. eye-piece. — 



/. a q. 



Seaside Diatomacese.— On Whit-Monday I 

 visited Whitley Sands, a long reach of sea beach 

 on the Northumberland coast, not far from the 

 mouth of the river Tyne. The sands are about two 

 miles in length, and at the northern end they are 

 protected from the violence of the waves by a 

 projecting mass of rocks covered with Algse. On 

 that part of the beach screened by the rocks, and 

 near low tide mark, I made a collection of Biato- 

 macem from the shallow pools, which were scattered 

 at intervals along the beach. The result of the 

 gathering may be best understood by running over 

 the following of the leading diatoms obtained in 

 considerable abundance, and the richness of the 

 gathering will, I trust, induce those Microscopical 

 readers of Science Gossip who have access to the 

 sea coast, to search their various localities for 

 diatomaceous treasures. Besides those enume- 

 rated, there were occasional frustules of Toxonidea 

 Gregoriaua, and about twenty other species. The 

 following were abundant : — AmpMprora a lata, A. 

 fulva, -Actinopfychiis undulatus, Biddulphia Bai- 

 leyii, Bpithemia marina, Nitzschia bilobata, iV. 

 virgata, Navicula didyma, N. lyra, N. granulata, 

 N. forcipata, N. lineata, N. cestiua, N. retusa ; 

 Ph'urosigma hippocampus, P. cestuarii, P. marinum, 

 P. lanceolatim, P. arcuatum ; Bonkinia carinalum, 

 B. rectum, B. minutum, Toxonidea insignis, 8fc. 

 In diatom gathering it is very desirable to 

 know on the spot what diatoms have been 

 obtained, and many modes for the accomplishment 

 of this purpose have been suggested ; small micro- 

 scopes, Coddington and Stanhope lenses, &c, but 

 all have been more or less cumbersome and 

 imperfect. I have recently had introduced to my 

 notice a small lens of Erench manufacture, 

 designated a Stauhopescope ; the entire apparatus 

 is only one inch long by fths of an inch diameter, 

 and is therefore very portable, its magnifying power- 

 is fully 100 diameters, and by it I can recognise not 

 only the genera, but the species of the larger form 

 of diatoms. The prices of this little apparatus 

 are Is. or Is. 67/., there being two styles of fitting, 

 and it may be had of any dealer in optical instru- 

 ments, or at any toy-shop. Should any of your 

 readers be unable to obtain them, I shall be glad 

 to forward them post free to any address on receipt 

 of the price in postage stamps.— T. P. Barkas, New- 

 castle-on-Tyne. 



