Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



187 



lectures twice weekly; laboratory opened 

 daily. In this course attention is de- 

 voted to both the biological and geolo- 

 gical relations of the important types 

 of animal and plant kingdoms. The phy- 

 logenetic history of the leading groups 

 is also traced out in considerable detail 

 wherever possible. Specim-^ns and dia- 

 grams are largely employed to illustrate 

 the lectures. Typical material is selected 

 for the laboratory work. This Includes 

 the use of the microscope in the work on 

 foraminifera, radiolarians, diatoms, cer- 

 tain corals, sponges and other of the 

 more minute forms of life. 



2. Advanced mineralogy, by Dr. E. B. 

 Matthews, lectures three times weekly. 

 Laboratory work. The lectures will in- 

 clude a full discussion of optical and mi- 

 croscopical mineralogy. Especial atten- 

 tion will be given to the behavior of 

 minerals ks constitutents of rock masses. 



3. Petrography, by Dr. E. B. Matthews. 

 Lectures three times weekly; laboratory 

 open daily. The course will include a 

 discussion of methods and a description 

 of the structure and physical properties 

 of rocks. The second portion of the 

 course is devoted to the special petro- 

 graphy of the igneous rocks, including a 

 study of their various classifications and 

 a discussion of their origin, distribution 

 and literature. The consideration of the 

 more common sedimentary and meta- 

 morphic rocks concludes the course. The 

 constant use of the petrographical mi- 

 croscope forms an essential part of the 

 laboratory work. The department is 

 well equipped with thin sections of min- 

 erals and rocks from the best known and 

 most thoroughly studied localities in both 

 Europe and America, embraced in the 

 Williams, Lewis, Sturtz, Lehman, and 

 numerous smaller collections. L. C. G. 



The new Science Hall of Syracuse Uni- 

 versity is nearing completion and will be 

 ready for occupancy early in the fall. 



The biological department will have 

 quarters in the new hall, occupying the 

 entire second floor. Additional facilities 

 will be provided and the courses of the 

 department extended correspondingly. 



Mr. M. Smallwood, instructor in Bio- 

 logy, has recently been elected to the de- 

 partment of Biology and Geology, Alle- 

 gheny College, and has gone to his new 

 position. Dr. A. A. Tyler, from Columbia 

 University, has been made instructor in 

 Botany, and will enter upon his duties 

 at once. 



Professor Charles W. Hargitt, after 

 nearly three months at the Laboratory 

 of the United States Fish Commission, 

 and the Marine Biological Laboratory, 

 Wood's Holl, has returned and reports a 

 most successful season. 



An easy and efficient method of pre- 

 paring nucleated blood for class use has 

 been adopted in the Histological labora- 

 tory at Cornell this year. A few drops of 

 the fresh blood of a necturus are put in a 

 solution of osmic acid (one per cent.) and 

 allowed to stand for about fifteen min- 

 utes. The corpuscles by this time are 

 fixed and have settled to the bottom, and 

 the fixer can now be decanted off. After 

 washing in water the blood is carried on 

 through the various grades of alcohol, 

 stained with paracarmine, dehydrated, 

 cleared, and as a final step Canada 

 balsam is added sufficient to procure the 

 proper dilution of the corpuscles. It now 

 only remains to put a drop of the balsam 

 on a slide, and cover with a cover glass. 

 A neat preparation is now ready for use. 

 The bottle of balsam containing the 

 stained corpuscles can be kept an inde- 

 finite length of time and is always ready- 

 for use. The stain obtained is differen- 

 tial and striking. The nucleus is colored 

 a rich brown and the hemaglobin a 

 bright amber red. The great advantage 

 this method has over the glycerine-jelly 

 mounts used heretofore, is that inexper- 

 ienced students are sure to, now and 

 then, let the objective down upon the 

 cover. With the glycerine-jelly mounts 

 the position of the corpuscles is thus dis- 

 turbed. As the blood corpuscles are used 

 to give the student an introduction to 

 micrometry, this instability of position 

 becomes a grave difficulty. With the 

 hardened balsam mounts it is Impossible 

 to disturb the position of the corpuscles 

 without using sufficient force to destroy 

 the whole preparation. 



During a part of four weeks of this 

 summer, about four thousand slides have 

 been prepared for class work for the en- 

 suing year. The work of preparing was 

 done by two students at a cost, for 

 labor, of between three and four cents 

 per slide. The staining device described 

 in an article appearing in the last issue of 

 the Journal was used in this work to 

 great advantage. 



Prof. Vernan F. Marsters, of the Geo- 

 logical department of the University of 

 Indiana, offers two new courses this 

 year; an elementary course in physio- 

 graphy, and a more advanced course on 

 the physiography of the United States. 



Assistant Professor John F. Newson 

 is on leave of absence for one year. 

 Edgar R. Cummings is instructor in 

 Paleontology. 



The course in Petrography is taught in 

 the Michigan College of Mines in the 

 senior year, and requires the prepara- 

 tory courses Physics, Chemistry, Geo- 

 logy, Crystallography, and Mineralogry. 

 which must be completed before the 



