AND MEMORANDA. 131 



We have been favoured by the Secretary of the New York 

 Microscopical Society with an invitation to the Sixth Annual 

 Reception of that Society, which was held on Friday evening, 

 Feb. I St, 1884. 



From the programme enclosed, we should judge the enter- 

 tainment to have been of an unusually interesting character. The 

 subject of the address, which was given by B. Braman, Esq., the 

 retiring President, was " The Microscope in Art." The exhibits, 

 of which 48 are described in the programme, are well selected. 

 We are particularly pleased to notice that each exhibit is more or 

 less particularly described in the programme, thus affording a more 

 lasting interest and instruction to the visitors. We have only 

 space to quote one or two, viz. : — 



" 3. — Tongue of Humble-Bee. — With its Ivigida^ or tongue, 

 the Bee collects nectar from flowers by lapping, not by suction. 



" 9. — PoLYCiSTiNA are a family of the low order of animal life, 

 called Rhizopods. Their foraminated, siliceous shells are found in 

 great abundance in a tertiary deposit 1,100 feet thick in the island 

 of Barbadoes. In the living state, thread-like organs {pseudo- 

 podia) radiate from the interior through openings called foramina. 



" II. — Cilia of the Oyster. Cilia are transparent, thread- 

 like organs, which have an important connection with the vital 

 functions. Their motions in the oyster serve to drive a current of 

 water over the surface of the gills, so as to aerate the blood ; also, 

 to direct a part of this current to the mouth, to supply food." 



We would recommend this style of programme to secretaries 

 and others connected with our local microscopical societies. 



Bacilli. — Those of our readers, medical or otherwise, who are 

 studying this organism will, perhaps, be interested in the following 

 extracts from " The London Medical Record " for Feb., 1884. 



Prof Sormani says, in the Afviali Universalis Sept., 1883 : — 

 " For microscopic examination of the Bacilli. — A thin layer of 

 sputum, spread on a cover-glass, is dried over the flame of a 

 spirit-lamp, and then immersed in the solution of gentian-violet 

 (Weigert's formula : — Gentian- violet, 1*5 parts, dissolved in 15 parts 

 of absolute alcohol ; add 3 parts of oil of aniline, and dissolve in 

 TOO parts of distilled water). It should remain in this solution for 

 15 or 20 minutes, or longer; it is then rapidly passed into dilute 

 nitric acid (50 per 100), then into alcohol, and then into a weak 

 aqueous solution of vesuvine, and, lastly, well washed in absolute 

 alcohol. The preparations may be mounted in oil of cloves, 

 castor-oil, or dammar varnish. Sections require three or four 



