HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



63 



was enjoyed. Subularia aquatica in flower, Isoetes 

 lacustris, Sparganium affine, CcUliiriche autr/m/ialis, and 

 IAttorella lacustris were gathered in the lake, and on 

 its borders Comarum pahtstre, Carex pulicaris, dioica, 

 alpicola (vililis) . An old watercourse whose precipitous 

 course made a good climb, was rich in plants, Phegop- 

 teris, Dryopteris, A. viride, Cystopteris fragilis, crispa, 

 being frequent till, at higher elevations, some half- 

 slaty ledges were covered with Rhodiola rosea, Poa 

 alpina, Silene acaulis, Saxifraga elongella, stellaris, 

 oppositifolia ; specimens also being found of Aspidium 

 Lonchitis, Alsineverna, Botrychium Lunaria, and the 

 so-called Poly gala grandiflora. The rocks at Twll 

 Du were quite a garden from the number of Hieracia, 

 Rhodiola, and other plants, but Lloydia was not seen. 

 Meconopsis canibrica still occurred in its old locality. 

 Besides finding Hymenophyllum Wilson i at the 

 Swallow Falls, and Lactuca muralis at Bettws and 

 Aber, but little else was done ; but certainly Wales 

 is well worth working, as it is easily accessible and 

 very interesting. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Mounting Micro-Fungi. — Since I wrote my 

 paper on this subject in January, 1879, to which 

 Mr. George Clinch very kindly refers in this month's 

 (February) Science-Gossip, I have tried the method 

 of mounting on wooden slips, having been advised to 

 do so by a gentleman whose method of mounting 

 these interesting specimens is simply superb. In 

 most cases I find the plan answered very well, though 

 I do not think the slides present so nice an appear- 

 ance in the cabinet. Of course there are cases in 

 which the perfectly opaque method does not answer, 

 for instance, in mounting specimens of such a fungus 

 as Peridermium Pint, where it is necessary that the 

 structure should be examined both by opaque and 

 transmitted light. I may mention that prepared 

 wooden slips may be bought for a small sum, but I 

 regret that I have not the name of the optician by me 

 who supplied those I have ; doubtless, however, there 

 are many who keep them in stock, and I think it is 

 far better and saves time to buy than to make your- 

 self.— Charles F. W. T. Williams, St. Johji's College, 

 Cambridge. 



Microscopical Society of Liverpool. — The 

 eleventh annual meeting of this Society was held at 

 the Royal Institution, on Friday evening, January 16, 

 1880 ; Rev. W. H. Dallinger in the chair. The presi- 

 dent elect, Dr. J. Sibley Hicks delivered his Inaugural 

 Address, choosing for his subject the Embryology of 

 the Lower Vertebrates, with special reference to the 

 development of the chick. He pointed out the 

 striking similarity which exists in the early stages of 

 development in all animals. After describing some 

 of the most important features in the early stages of 



development in the chick, up to a period when it 

 could be prepared in its entirety as a transparent 

 object for microscopic examination, he proceeded 

 to describe the evolution of the heart, comparing the 

 various forms that organ assumes during its gradual 

 development in the embryonic condition, to the adult 

 heart of animals of a lower order, commencing with 

 the dorsal vessel of the insect and gradually ascending 

 to the incomplete four-chambered heart of the reptile. 

 The address was illustrated by means of skilfully- 

 prepared diagrams. 



Rock Sections. — At a late meeting of the San 

 Francisco Microscopical Society, a paper by Mr. 

 Melville Atwood was read, entitled "The Import- 

 ance of a Classification of Metalliferous Veins." The 

 paper, after dwelling at some length on the various 

 means, &c, of determining the value of a lode, the 

 uncertainty which attends it, and consequent risk to 

 the miner, dealt as follows with a section of Mine- 

 ralogy which may be interesting to some of our 

 readers, namely, the cutting of rock-sections for 

 microscopical examination. Mr. Atwood says, " after 

 many experiments, I found a simple plan by which 

 rock-section cutting can be done at little cost and 

 labour, by the use of a few emery stones, or blocks, 

 of different degrees of fineness — say, from one and a 

 half to two inches square, and eight or nine inches 

 long — the same as I have brought here for your in- 

 spection. The chips to be cut should be first made 

 as thin as possible ; the plan recommended by Mr. 

 Rutley, to use a cold-chisel, the end let into a block 

 of wood, and then by holding the specimen on the 

 edge of the chisel and striking it a sharp blow with a 

 light hammer, will generally give you a satisfactory 

 chip. The chip must then be rubbed on the emery 

 blocks, with water, till you get a good, even surface 

 on one side of it, commencing with the coarse emery 

 blocks first ; then, with Canada balsam, fasten the 

 smooth surface of the chip to a common glass slide, 

 which is done by heating the slide over a spirit lamp 

 and then applying a small quantity of the balsam. 

 As soon as the balsam liquifies, press the smooth 

 surface of the chip into it, and then allow it to cool. 

 The balsam is better to be dried, so that you can use 

 it like a stick of sealing-wax. As soon as the slide 

 and chip are cold, you can commence to rub the outer, 

 or rough surface of the chip attached to the slide, on 

 the emery blocks until you get it nearly thin enough 

 for mounting. To finish, use the fine, smaller 

 blocks, as you would a file. Vou can hold the 

 section up to the light and examine it during the 

 operation. Mount and cover the section with thin 

 glass, in the usual way." 



Pond Life. — We have received from Mr. C. 

 Baker, 244 High Holborn, a large mounted photo- 

 graph, containing groups of British microscopic 

 animals and plants, collected from a pond at Leyton- 

 stone, near London, and drawn from life by Mr. 



