ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 549 



even a fifth dilation. These different dilations are then made into plates. 

 In 48 hoars at 22° colonies of yeast will appear, while Oospora only be- 

 comes evident about the sixth day as minute white points. These colonies 

 grow extremely slowly. 



Cultivation Medium for the Influenza Bacillus and Ducrey's 

 Bacillus.* — Elizabeth T. Fraser recommends Staphylococcus agar for 

 cultivating the influenza bacillus ; this is made by melting a tube of 

 ordinary agar and adding to it h-\ c.cm. of a sterilized emulsion of 

 Staphylococcus in saline solution. It is immaterial whether the emulsion 

 be sterilized at 60° or 100° C. It is asserted that the organism grew 

 better on this than on blood media ; it is also suitable for Ducrey's 

 bacillus. 



Culture of Leishmania tropica on Solid Media.f — C. Nicolle and 

 L. Manceaux have cultivated Leishmania tropica on blood-agar com- 

 posed according to the formula of Novy and MacNeal. Two precautions 

 are necessary : the surface must not be dry (therefore old tubes are not 

 employed), and the condensation water must be pipetted off before the 

 medium is inoculated. At 20-22 c a film appears on the surface 4 or 5 

 days after inoculation. Much better preparations are obtained by this 

 procedure than by the condensation-water method. 



Lucet, A. — De l'influence de l'agitation sur le developpement du Bacillus anthracis 

 cultive en milieu liquide. Comptes Rendits, clii. (1911) p. 1512. 



(2) Preparing- Objects. 



New Methods of Histological Technique.! — 0. Schultze makes 

 some general remarks on the use of osmic acid as a fixative, and main- 

 tains that it is one of the best. He indicates a method for staining with 

 hematoxylin after osmic fixation. He makes further remarks on the 

 clearing of large objects, such as frog embryos, in bulk, and recommends 

 for the purpose a mixture containing SO c.cm. of 1 p.c. chromic acid, 

 5 c.cm. eau de Javelle, and 10 drops of potash. This fixes, removes the 

 pigment, and clears, so that the internal anatomy can be distinctly seen. 



(3) Cutting, including- Embedding- and Microtomes. 



Modification of the Freiburg Method of putting on a Directing- 

 plane (Richtungs-Ebene) for Reconstruction^— N. C. Rutherford's 

 device consists in the use of lamp-black obtained by burning camphor. 

 This is made into a thin film by means of a mixture of absolute alcohol 

 and collodium, and applied by means of a camel-hair brush. After 

 drying, melted soft paraffin is run over the surface in the usual way, and 

 when this has solidified the squaring of the block is completed. 



(4 Staining- and Injecting-. 



Staining of Fats.|| — J. Lorrain Smith and W. Mair review their 

 previous work on the methods of staining fats and lipoids. Fats can 



* Lancet (1911) i. pp. 1573-4. 



t C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxx. (1911) pp. 712-13. 



X Verh. d. Phvsikal.-Med. Gesell. z. Wurzburg, xl. (1910) pp. 157-68 (pi. xvi.). 



§ Anat. Anzeii., xxxix. (1911) pp. 22-4 (1 rig.) 



|| Skand. Arckiv Pbysiolog., xxv. (1911) pp. 247-55. 



