112 



HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G O SSIP. 



down, showing the stellate or rotulate form of the 

 •ends of the spicula ; and in fig. 69 the position they 

 occupy in the support of the spherical form of the 

 ovarium, the outer rotula at b supporting the external 

 membrane, and the inner one at c performing the 

 same office for the internal one. Some few of the 

 ■ovarian spicules have a short spine protruding from 



Fig. £6- — Inflated Spicules 

 of Fresh-water Sponge. 



Fig. 65.— Ovary of Fresh- Fig. 67.— Elongated Spicules of 

 water Sponge. Fresh-water Sponge. 



■O' 



.^x 





Fig. 68.— Rotulate Spicule of Ovarium of Sponge (highly 

 magnified). 



Fig. 69. — Position occupied by Rotulate Spiculae in Ovarium. 



the middle of their shaft (fig. 68, d), but these are rare 

 instances in S. fluviatilis. The shaft of the rotulate 

 spicules appear to be hollow tubes, for when looking 

 direct down the shaft it appears more light and 

 transparent than does the rest of the star-shaped top, 

 which would not be the case if the shaft was solid. 



Drying Flowers without losing their 

 ■Colour. — Let R. B. L. try the following plan : 

 Gather the flowers perfectly dry, and with a small 

 brush paint them over with a strong solution of alum, 

 then place in a book to dry, changing them often. — 

 B. 13. S. 



MICROSCOPY. 



A New Zoophyte Trough. — I beg to send you a 

 zoophyte trough, the form of which is new, I think, 

 and possesses the following advantages. It is very 

 light, owing to the sides being made of wood, easily 

 cleaned, and as the wooden frame is cut so as to 

 leave the bottom semicircular there are no corners, 

 and the trough is easily brought under any objective. 

 The rabbet enables the central glass to keep objects 

 in their places. — Fred. Row. 



Marine Infusoria. — A capital paper, recently 

 read before the Birmingham Natural History and 

 Microscopical Society by Mr. W. Saville Kent, F.L.S., 

 entitled "Notes on certain Marine Infusoria, ob- 

 tained during the summer excursion (1879) to Fal- 

 mouth," appears in the April number of the "Mid- 

 land Naturalist." The paper is embellished with a 

 page illustrating nineteen of the objects. 



MicRoscoriCAL Society of Liverpool. — The 

 fourth meeting of the twelfth session of this society 

 was held on April 2, 1SS0; Dr. Hicks, president, 

 in the chair. Mr. I. C. Thompson (hon. sec.) ex- 

 hibited a simple but effective form of aquatic trough, 

 adapted for Infusoria and other minute living 

 objects, the ends being of any desired depth, made of 

 thin pieces of glass and cemented upon an ordinary 

 3+1 slip, the cover resting upon these ends, and 

 kept in position by capillary attraction. He also 

 called the attention of microscopists to a new and 

 excellently illustrated work entitled, " The Biological 

 Atlas," edited by Messrs. Mc Alpine, of Edinburgh, 

 which comprised a course of biological study from 

 the very lowest to the higher forms of animal and 

 vegetable organisms. Mr. Butterworth, of Oldham, 

 read a paper, entitled " A Short History of the Dis- 

 covery of the Fossil Plants of the Lancashire and 

 Yorkshire Coalfields," illustrated by sections and 

 photographs by the aid of the limelight. Mr. Butter- 

 worth stated that he had studied the richest localities 

 in the Oldham and Halifax districts for upwards of 

 twenty years, and exhibited numbers of coal sections 

 prepared from specimens there obtained. In some of 

 them the stomata and other parts of plant structure 

 were clearly visible under the higher powers of the 

 microscope. A discussion followed, in which the 

 Rev. H. H. Higgins, Mr. Morton, Dr. Symes, &c, 

 took part. 



Microscopical Society for Highgate, — At a 

 meeting held at the Highgate Literary and Scientific 

 Institution, on Tuesday, March 23, at which Dr. 

 M. C. Cooke, M.A., LL.D., &c, presided, it was 

 resolved to establish a Microscopical and Natural 

 History Society for Highgate and neighbourhood. 

 The first meeting of the Society was held at the 

 Institution on Friday, April 16. Anyone wishing to 

 take part in the Society will kindly write to the 



