HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



207 



The jNIicrographic Dictionary. 4th Edition. 

 — ^We have received Parts viii. to xiii. inclusive of 

 the new issue of this valuable work. The importance 

 attached to it will have l^een evidenced by the corre- 

 spondence relating to sections of coal. The fourth 

 edition is edited by Dr .J. W. Griffith, the Rev. M. J. 

 Berkeley, and Professor T. Rupert Jones. 



Studies in jMicroscopicai. Science, — Mr. 

 Arthur C. Coles' new weekly publication is one of the 

 most welcome of the many we receive for notice . 

 No. 13 is a departure from the plates of its pre- 

 decessors, in giving a very fairly-executed lithographed 

 plate of the human kidney, instead of the usual 

 coloured section. We should add that one of the 

 chief values of these " studies " is the Bibliographical 

 list of papers, &c., relating to each. 



Cur FOR Mounting.— Mr. John Beadle, of No. 4 

 Victoria Street, Kendal, has sent for our inspection 

 a very ingeniously contrived wire clip for mounting 

 microscopical specimens. It is one of the best and 

 simplest devices we have seen. 



Journal of the Rovau Microscopical 

 Society. — The June part contains papers as follows : 

 "Note on the Spicules found in the Ambulacral Tubes 

 of the regular Echinoidea," by Professor F. Jeffrey Bell ; 

 "The Relation of Aperture and Power in the Micros- 

 cope," by Professor Abbe ; " The Bacteriaof Davaine's 

 Septicoemia," by G. F. Dovvdeswell, M.A. ; besides 

 a capital summary of eminent researches relatinn- to 

 zoology and botany, microscopy, &c., including 

 original communications from fellows and others. 



The part for August contains papers as follows : 



" On some Micro-organisms from Rainwater, Ice 

 and Hail," by R. L. Maddox ; "Description of a 

 simple plan of Imbedding Tissues, for Microtome 

 cutting, in semi-pulped unglazed printing Paper," 

 by B. W. Richardson; "Note on the Rev. G. L. 

 Mill's Paper on Diatoms in Peruvian Guano," by 

 F. Kitton. 



The Microscopical Society of Victoria.— We 

 have received Nos. i and 4 of the Journal of the 

 above Society, containing papers by Dr. T. S. Ralph 

 (president) on "Human Blood"; by Mr. W. M. 

 Ball on Hydroida from south-eastern Australia; 

 Microscopical structure of Igneous Dyke rocks in 

 North Gippsland, by Mr. A. W. Howitt ; papers on 

 matters relating to mounting, &c., by Messrs. F. 

 Barnard, W. M. Bale, V/. H. Wooster, &c. The 

 illustrations are excellent, and the Journal will compare 

 favourably in its get-up with any in Great Britain. 



Cutting Sections of Coal.— Mr. Griffiths can 

 scarcely be acquainted with Professor Reinsch's latest 

 work, " Neue Untersuchungen iiber die Mikro- 

 struktur der Steinkohle," &c., or he would not assert 

 that little was to be seen in coal. I have had the 

 pleasure of examining with the Professor a series of 

 slides which he had prepared, and from whicli many 



of the drawings in the above-named work were made. 

 As I believe the book is but little known in this 

 country, a brief description will enable the readers of 

 Science-Gossip to judge how far I am correct 

 in stating that sections of coal are not devoid of 

 interest. It is a small quarto volume, consisting of 

 124 pages of text and 57 plates, containing about 50a 

 figures drawn on stone and printed by the author, it 

 describes and illustrates the numerous organisms de- 

 tected by the author in coal. These do not consist of 

 the remains"of large plants like the fragments occurring 

 in lignite, but are microscopic protophyta, and are 

 arranged in the following classes : — Chroococciten,. 

 2 genera ; Plasmien, 23 genera ; Racostromien, 

 8 genera ; Grammitoiden, 6 genera ; Trichodcn, 

 5 genera ; Asterophragmien, 8 genera ; Blastophrag- 

 mien, 2 genera ; making a total of 54 genera. It is 

 not however the question as to whether coal will 

 repay the trouble of preparing sections of it but 

 whether the Micrographical Dictionary was correct 

 in stating that coal could 'be softened by macerating 

 it in a solution of carbonate of potash. I, as one of 

 the " sapient" individuals who credited the assertion 

 of the writer that it would become sufficiently soft to 

 be cut with a razor, tried it and published my want 

 of success. This called forth numerous letters, all of 

 which recorded failures. At last Mr. Griffiths comes- 

 forward and relates an anecdote of a pupil of his, 

 as a jeer at those who were credulous enough to- 

 believe the assertion of the Micrographical Diction- 

 ary and telling us that our non-success arose from 

 our own stupidity, we should have tried lignite and 

 not coal ; but as I wanted to make sections of the 

 latter it was of little use telling me how lignite could 

 be cut, it would therefore have saved some trouble 

 if the Micrographical Dictionary had stated that 

 carbonate of potash would not soften anthracite or 

 hard coal. I do not imagine that a microscopist (even 

 one who does not claim to be advanced) would require 

 to be told that the plan of treating vegetable tissue 

 would not succeed with a brickbat ; but surely if I 

 am told that a piece of quartz can be pierced witli 

 an ordinary steel drill, and on trying it, I find it will 

 not do so, I am justified in considering that the 

 recipe is worthless, and my informant afterwards 

 telling me that he meant a combination of quartz 

 with soda does not add to its value. The words of 

 the poet are not inapplicable to the book in question : 



" If to its text some trifling errors fall, 

 Look at its plates and you'll forget them all." 



— Fred. Kitton. 



What Bird ? — A bird nearly twice the size of 

 house-sparrow, head and upper part bluish ; throat, 

 breast, &c. , reddish-brown, perhaps more correctly 

 red. Note a constant repetition of a sound resembling 

 the words chee-whit, chee-whit. Station generally 

 upper parts of trees in my orchard. — E. //. R. 



