276 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



vertical position, through the horizontal strata of the 

 sandstone and lias. 



In conclusion let me say that if I shall have 

 stimulated any reader to go over the various hunting 

 grounds I have described, and he should find 

 pleasure and instruction in his walks, I shall feel 

 more than repaid for the pleasant task I have with 

 this paper, at any rate for the present, finished. 



Charles F. W. T. Williams. 



LIST OF ASSISTING NATURALISTS. 

 \Continuedfrom p. 182.] „ ._.j 



SCOTLAND. 



Berwick. Charles Stuart, M.D. Edin., Hillside, 

 Chirnside, N.B. Botany and Natural History 

 0/ the County. 



Wick. James Grant, High Street. Botany of 

 " Ultima Thule." 



MICROSCOPY. 



How to make Zoophyte Troughs.— Perhaps 



the following will give some idea how easy and 



rapidly the zoophyte troughs I use are to make, and 



how quickly ready for use. Having brought home 



some weed from a stone in a running stream, I 



wished to examine it. Having no cistern at liberty 



I placed a piece in one I was using and saw diatoms. 



Wishing to ascertain if they came from the weed I 



made a fifth cistern in less time than it takes me to 



tell you how to do it, and had it under observation, 



looking on diatoms in number on the principle of 



the stars in the heaven and the sand on the sea shore. 



Materials : back, plate glass 3 inch X 2 ; sides and 



bottom, slips of glass \ inch wide, \ or T ' s (or \ if 



liked) thick ; covers, thin glass 2 inch X I5 ; marine 



glue (soluble), obtained from any tool maker (Buck, 



Holborn Viaduct, tt. per lb.) ; spirit lamp (mounting 



table recommended) ; dissecting needle. Directions : 



place the cover on the back in the middle touching 



the bottom ; mark round its sides and bottom thus : 



Fig. 164. — Outline of new Zoophyte Trough. 



take the cover off, heat the back. Take a small piece 

 of glue (size of pea, or smaller) on end of needle, 

 heat in flame until it lights, then place on glass on 

 line — so on until line is covered with glue \ inch wide. 



Heat back over flame, and with finger damp (not 

 wet) press the glue until it sticks on back well. 

 Take two strips of glass— length of sides of cover- 

 again heat back ; turn back over so that glue comes 

 in contact with flame ; when glue in a half-liquid 

 state press the sides into it. Then cut a piece for the 

 bottom and do the same ; then clean interior. The 

 sides and bottom are glued in the same way to receive 

 the cover, and when the glue on the sides and 

 bottom is in a half-liquid state, gently heat the cover, 

 and gently press it on to the glue. Note. — You can- 

 not heat the glue too often. It should be constantly 

 placed in the flame and the back constantly heated 

 during the operation (heat gently). It is ready for 

 use immediately. Objects can be kept in these tanks 

 for a long time, provided the water is not allowed to 

 evaporate and a piece of weed placed in it. I have, 

 in rather a large one, kept fleas and larvae of gnats 

 for over a month, fleas three months. I have seen 

 some sold in shops, but none I like so well as my 

 own, as they never leak. — John Alex. Ollard. 



Microscopical Society of Liverpool. — At the 

 last meeting of this society a communication was read 

 from Mr. G. E. Massee of Scarborough, on Myxomy- 

 cetous Fungi. Mr. Massee has succeeded in growing 

 spores of Spumaria alba, and found that threads of 

 different kinds appear in two or three points of the 

 surface of the spore. One kind is of a mycelioid 

 character, the other consists of oval cells multiplying 

 by gemmation until a torula-like chain is formed, 

 which divides, becoming nucleated, each cell increas- 

 ing rapidly in size and remaining as a resting spore for 

 nearly a year, and not taking'any Amoeba-like form. 

 After this some immature spumaria appeared in 

 a pulpy homogeneous mass, in which were numerous 

 bright specks, each being a focus round which the 

 plasma formed naked cells of Amoeboid character or 

 Plasmodium. After three days all movement ceased, 

 the cells assumed a spherical shape, bright nuclei 

 appeared, and within twenty-four hours the cell wall 

 was absorbed, and the mature spirulose spores set 

 free. A paper was read by Mr. F. J. Paul, F.R.C.S., 

 on "The Structure, Growth, and Development of 

 Bone," in which the author gave a short sketch of the 

 comparative anatomy of the skeleton, alluding to the 

 supporting framework of the lowest forms of life, the 

 calcareous and horny exoskeletons of intermediate 

 forms, and the cartilaginous, dentinal, and osseous 

 endoskeletons of the vertebrata. A minute descrip- 

 tion was given of the microscopical characters of 

 bone, showing it to consist of layers of hardened 

 fibres and bone-cells arranged in peculiar concentric 

 circles, called Haversian systems. Blood-vessels 

 occur at intervals, but the nourishing fluid was 

 brought in intimate contact with the tissue by means 

 of the bone-cells. Bone was classed as a connective 

 tissue, and its origin was traced from the first appear- 

 ance of this tissue in the embryo to the formation of 



