ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 769" 



glass. The preparations are mounted in balsam and inspected by trans- 

 mitted light. This process differs from that by which A. Y. Moore 

 plated diatoms, his being covered with a heavy layer of silver or gold 

 and examined as opaque objects. It is rather a staining process, render- 

 ing the silica opaque or nearly so, and thus differs from other methods 

 which fill the cavities in the valves with opaque matter. The results so 

 far have been principally corroborative of previous observations, but 

 many features are rendered not only more obvious but new characteristics 

 brought to light, among which may be mentioned a ring of processes 

 near the margin of the valve of Coscinodiscus subtilis which extends 

 towards the interior of the frustule. In Navicula and its allies the 

 raphe is well displayed, and in N. rhomboides the raphe is shown to be 

 single. 



'B 



Fixation of the Mammalian Egg in the Uterine Cavity* — 

 H. Schoenfeld excised the gravid uterus of rabbits at intervals of 6 to 10 

 days after impregnation. The organ was placed for \-% an hour in 

 ^ p.c. chromic acid, in order to coagulate the blood in the vessels, and 

 then cut up into small pieces. These were placed in some fixative 

 solution, the best results being obtained from Hermann's fluid. Flem- 

 ming's fluid was next best, while sublimate and Zenker's medium were 

 much less efficacious. The sections fixed in fluids containing osmic acid 

 were stained with safranin and picric acid, safranin and light green, or 

 with Heidenhain's iron haematoxylin. The sublimate or Zenker sections 

 were stained with Delafield's hasmatoxylin followed by eosin, or by 

 van Gieson's method of iron ha3matoxylin. 



Improvements of Aubertin's Method for Sticking on Celloidin 

 Sections.f — F. Muller describes the following modification of Aubertin's 

 method for making celloidin sections adhere to the slide, which procedure 

 consisted in running a mixture of ether and alcohol over the section. 

 The author first puts a thin film of glycerin-albumen on the slide, and 

 warms it over the flame as long as it vaporises. The section is then 

 floated in 95 p.c. alcohol on to the film, and as much of the alcohol as 

 possible removed with blotting-paper. Henceforward the slide must 

 be kept in the horizontal position. "When the section begins to look 

 opaque, a few drops of a mixture of equal parts of alcohol and ether 

 are pipetted over. The slide is then left for 5-10 minutes, in which 

 time the ether-alcohol will have evaporated. The slide is then treated 

 for a short while Avith 70 p.c. alcohol, and afterwards for a longer time 

 with water. The section is then cleared up with carbol-xylol, and may 

 then be stained, or if so desired may be kept for a while. In the latter 

 case it is advisable to immerse the glides for 5-10 minutes in 95 p.c. 

 alcohol, in order to soften the celloidin a little. 



Preparing Sections of Cancellous Bone.J — E. 0. Little sticks the 

 rough section of bone or tooth on the slide with xylol-balsam. The 

 balsam is then ignited and allowed to burn as long as possible, care 



* 



Archiv. Biol., six. (1903) pp. 701-82S (4 pis.). 

 t Centralbl. Allgm. Pathol, u. patbol. Anat., xiv. (1903) pp. 671-2. 

 App. Micr., vi. (1903) p. 2254 (1 fig.). 



