335 



placed with as little disturbance as possible in the alcohol, which 

 at once penetrates the fungus. The alcohol quickly evaporates, 

 and another drop should now be placed on the object, which 

 should be left to soak in it for about a quarter of an hour. Then 

 a drop or two of more dilute spirit, say 25 per cent, strength is 

 added. This will in its turn penetrate the specimen, and the slide 

 should be left undisturbed for several hours, care being taken to 

 ensure that the fluid does not evaporate altogether. By these 

 processes the initial difficulty of the resistance to wetting is 

 overcome, and at the same time the tissues are fixed and 

 hardened. After some hours (or sooner, if convenient) the spirit 

 is washed out with distilled water. This can be done on the 

 slide with a camel-hair brush, with which some of the superfluous 

 spores can at the same time be removed. While the object is 

 still wet, a drop of the coloured glycerine, diluted if the object 

 was a delicate one, should be placed on the fungus and allowed to 

 soak in thoroughly. It is a good plan at this stage to put the 

 slip away in the cabinet for a time. Finally the specimen is 

 arranged under the microscope, the ' diluted glycerine withdrawn 

 with a brush, and a drop of glycerine in full strength substituted. 

 The cover-glass is then placed in position and cemented down. 

 Unless the object is thick, no cell is required. The algae 

 could be treated in the same manner, but are much easier to 

 deal with, as they do not require such delicate manipulation in 

 the early stages. 



The Hon. Secretary congratulated Mr. Burton on his interesting 

 paper, and" said that he could quite confirm Mr. Burton's remarks 

 as to the fugitive nature of methylen-blue when used as a stain 

 for fungi. He possessed some beautiful slides of fungi prepared 

 with this medium by Mr. L. Still, a member of the Club, but 

 unfortunately the colour was steadily fading, although they were 

 kept in a light-proof cabinet. Overstaining of the specimens was 

 to some extent a remedy for this tendency to fade. 



Dr. Spitta confirmed the observation. He had had considerable 

 experience of methylen-blue as a bacteriological stain, and had 

 found it very fugitive. 



A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Burton for his 

 communication. 



The Hon. Editor, Mr. F. P. Smith, then gave an ex tempore 

 resume of his further contributions towards the revision of th< 



