SUGGESTION FOR GLYCERINE JELLY MOUNTS. 



By Pkoi-. John M. Holzinger. 



I HAVE always found it awkward to handle small mounts of 

 of mosses or sections of organs in jelly between mica. To 



obviate this difficulty I have hit upon a plan which has re- 

 ceived much favorable comment from several of my correspondents. 



I take two thicknesses of paper, one of ordinary writing paper, 

 the other cardboard slightly heavier than postal card paper. From 

 each I cut out strips of equal size, as long as ordinary microscope 

 slides and a very little wider. These I fasten at one end with 

 paste to keep them from slipping. Then I lay the glycerine jelly 

 mount, which of course must not be as wide or as long as my 

 paper slide, on this paper slide and center it, marking off a space 

 a little less than the mount. This space I cut through both thick- 

 nesses with a sharp pointed pen-knife. Then I cover the inside 

 of the cardbord with paste, lay down over it, properly centered, 

 the jelly mount, and press down the thin paper, carefully avoiding 

 any misplacement. The two thicknesses of paper thus become a 

 frame for the mount, with a sufficient margin of white paper to 

 receive all necessary data. 



These slides I keep each with its proper packet of moss mate- 

 rial, protecting it from injury by a small paper pocket. This idea 

 is not original, but was suggested by some mounts of Bruch's 

 which I remember having seen in the National Herbarium at 

 Washington. 



p. S.— That was a timely suggestion made recently in these 

 columns by Mrs. Britton to the younger moss students who habit- 

 ually appeal to their older moss friends for aid in determinations, 

 namely, that they should send with each moss to be named a pre^ 

 pared slide. If this were done more uniformly the elder "breth- 

 ren" would be saved much mechanical work of preparing moss 

 parts for inspection. But I am sure it would also have a more 

 far-reaching effect upon all who take up the study of mosses, 

 making them much more thorough, and acquainting them much 

 more rapidly with the microscopic characters of our mosses. One 

 is much more likely to examine critically a moss accompanied by 

 a slide than one without such preparation. And this not only 

 because it is easier to examine it, but largely because the prepara- 

 tion of the slide is an earnest of the purpose of the beginner who 

 seeks aid. 



Wint na, Minn. 



[Four parts should always be mounted on each slide— stem 

 leaves, branch leaves from the middle of the branch, the short 

 branch from which the middle leaves have been stripped, and the 

 peristome. — Eds. ] 



