HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



209 



the convenience of the instrument by the adapta- 

 tion of a steam or water-jacket drying-closet, shown 

 in the annexed illustration, for the purpose of dry- 



Fig. 117. Drying- closet for Slides. 



ing such specimens, sections, spines, &c, as require 

 to be put up dry in balsam, damar, or any of the 

 resinous cements ; and by the addition of a portable 



Fig. 118. The " Sear " Microscope Lamp. 



rack, which holds twelve slides of the ordinary 

 3x1 size, and which can be slid in and out of the 

 oven or case, facilities are obtained for dispersing 

 air-bubbles, hardening off and finishing slides so 



mounted at a rate much faster than by the ordinary 

 method of leaving them to dry in a drawer, while 

 the tray-form of the top offers conveniences for 

 keeping gelatinous media, glycerine jelly, Deane's 

 cement, or even old balsam, in a fluid state, and this 

 without any trouble, and with very little attention, 

 on the part of the operator. The water-jacket has 

 a door on each side — one only can be shown in the 

 perspective, — and works, interchangeably with the 

 hemispherical bath, in the ring shown as carrying 

 the latter, its stability being assured by means of a 

 bayonet-joint, rendering the whole perfectly steady 

 and firm. The Silberlight Company, Limited, who 

 are makers of the lamp, will also 'supply the steam- 

 jacket and rack complete as shown; but I have no 

 pecuniary interest whatever in the invention, which 

 is offered with diffidence to the notice of micro- 

 scopists as the only lamp that meets all the require- 

 ments of the practical working student of the 

 microscope. — W. Lane Sear. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Provincial Societies. — We have received 

 part 4 of vol. i. of the " Transactions of the Wat- 

 ford Natural History Society," containing a lecture, 

 by Professor Moiris, on "The Physical Structure 

 of the London Basin considered in its relation to 

 the Geology of the neighbourhood of Watford"; a 

 paper by Mr. Pi. A. Pryor on "The Supposed Chaly- 

 beate Spring at Watford, and on the Medicinal 

 Waters in Herts," as well as the rainfall in 1875, 



and miscellaneous notes and observations. The 



East Kent Natural History Society held a soiree in 

 St. George's Hall recently, which was very success- 

 ful, the members contributing in every department 

 of natural history. The President (Mr. Dowker, 

 F.G.S.) and Mr. Saunders, gave elaborate addresses 

 on topics connected with the philosophy of modern 

 research. 



Pleurobkanchus membranaceus — In reply to 

 Mr. A. J. P. Sclater's inquiry as to the food of 

 Pleurobranclms membranaceus, I think there is no 

 reason to doubt that this mollusk feeds entirely on 

 a vegetable diet. I have had six specimens sent to 

 me from four distinct localities, which I have care- 

 fully examined, also taken out the palates and giz- 

 zards for microscopic objects, and I therein saw no 

 substance I could term animal tissue in the stomachs, 

 &c, with a § objective. Judging from the uniform 

 green appearance of the pulpy mass found in the 

 stomach, I am inclined to conclude it was some kind 

 of fucus. I have not once found in Pleurobranchus 

 any vestige of animal tissue of any kind, even the 

 most indigestible fragment ; otherwise I have occa- 

 sionally found such; say, a palate, or part of a 

 palate, of the animal eaten in the stomach or gizzard 



