BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 87 



ter exceeds thatof the sustain iug branch, which being overweighted, can no longer mij)- 

 port the parasite except in a pendent i)osition. — A . H. Cuktisp, Jarksonville, FJoridK. 



A CONVENIENT MICROSCOPE. — I liave been so frequenth- consulted of late as to the 

 best form of dissecting microscope for botanical purposes, that I am glad to lie able lo 

 say our well-known Optician, Mr. Joseph Zentmej-er, of Pliiladeli)hia, has just con- 

 structed one that in all res])ects is what tlie analytical botanist requires. Mr. Zent- 

 meyer needs no word of mine to commend his work. It is in the interest of botony 

 that I write this. 



The stand is -round, of cast iron, and six inches in diameter. Hence the instru- 

 ment is perfectly steady. The pillar supporting the stage is strong, of brass, and three 

 inches high. Ot just sucli a height that the hands holding the needles are free from 

 tremor because the arms rest solidly on the table. The stage of brass is tive inches long 

 by nearly four wide, and statiomtry, thus contrasting most favorably with the old Ras- 

 pail, and some of tlie later instruments. There is a ghiss plate nearly two inches in 

 diameter in the middle of the stage, and abundant liglitis tlirown on this from the mir- 

 ror beneath. The arm carrying the lens is raised or lowered b^' a tirm, and charmingly 

 smooth working racli and pinion, which has a free lateral movement. A good lens 

 magnifying about ten diameters completes this model instrument. Its advantages are: 

 strength, neatness and a large steady stage, over all the cheaper instruments of this 

 class, and it has all the good points of the tiner dissecting microscopes at al)out half 

 the cost. The glass plate in the stage may be removed and a watch glass put in, to con- 

 tain any object we wish to examine in water, or an alcohol lamp placed under the stage 

 will keep up the gentle heat we sometimes want in work. 



The instrument as I have described it with a neat box, costs only fifteen dollars, 

 and one dollar more would add an extra, higher-powered lens, thus making it equal to 

 any work involved in analytical botany. Beside this, a tube might be added to screw 

 into the arm carrj ing the lens, and thus at a very small additional expense the owner 

 would have a compact, strong compound microscope that would do good field work 

 with even a quarter or a fifth of an inch objective. For the botanical laboratories of 

 Colleges it has no superior, when we consider economy and durability. — J. T. Roth- 



KOCK. 



MoNOTROPA UNiFLORA. — Notwithstanding the pretty general distribution of this 

 peculiar type »f vegetation, its comparative numerical paucity in any region appears 

 as rather a striking feature. In many hundreds of botanical walks we have found but 

 ■one locality where this plant seems anyways abundant. This was iii what is known as 

 the "Beech and Oak Flats" of Jefierson county, Indiana. The timber is often quite 

 dense, and the vegetable debris has often formed to quite a thickness by natural accum- 

 ulation from year to year, and at the same time being aided by the presence of water 

 except in the dryest seasons. Under such circumstances vegetable products of a fun- 

 gus tyi)e are readily encouraged in growth. Here within the compass of a few square 

 yards, and among the beech roots, we have secured as many as 50 fine si)ecimens. 

 However, in contemplating their l)eauty of form and delicacy of structure, we did not 

 suspicion such a poisonous principle to lurk within as we have since found to be the 

 case. 



During the month of September a young lady brought me a jilant which she said 

 had poisoned her, and she desired its name. With some surprise, and perhaps I should 

 have had none after considering its fostering food and close resemblance to the Fungi, 

 I found the plant to be Monotropa tiniflora. The circumstances of the case are as fol- 

 lows. The young lady while examining the plant accidentally crushed the stem, and 

 some of the juice was driven upon her lips. The mucous portions which were some- 

 what chapped became very much irritated, and began to inflame and swell consider- 



