220 



Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



regions of the body. These sense organs 

 are collected into definite rows, groups, 

 and zones. The individual sense cells 

 making up these compound organs are 

 bipolar nerve cells with peripheral pro- 

 longations which terminate in a single 

 sensory hair. The prolongation of the 

 deep end has not been completely fol- 

 lowed out, but as far as traced is 

 unbranched, and represents a true nerve 

 fibril. 



E. M. Brace. 



Abbreviations used : Zeltschr. f. Mikroskp u. f. 

 Mikroskp, Techn. = Zeitschrlft fuer Mikroskopie 

 und fuer Mikroskopische Technik. Archiv. f. 

 Mikros. Anat.=Archive fuer mikroskopische Anat- 

 omie. Anat. Anz.=Anatoinischer Anzeiger. 



ABSTRACTS. 



Adulterations of Buckwheat Flour Sold in 

 the Lawrence Market. 



Microscopic tests of the purity of com- 

 mercial buckwheat flour were made by 

 M. A. Barber. Of the seven samples 

 examined, four were found to be adul- 

 terated, so that the proportion of buck- 

 wheat present was about two-thirds, in 

 one case only one-half. 



Kaflir corn flour an 1 certain grades of 

 shorts may be used as adulterants, but 

 in the samples tested some grade of 

 wheat starch had evidently been used. 

 Under the compound microscope, the 

 granules of buckwheat flour are seen to 

 be of about uniform size, Irregular in 

 outline, closely compacted, and the indi- 

 vidual grains show few concentric lines. 



In wheat starch obtained from shorts, 

 the grains vary in form, and the large 

 ones are much larger than any found in 

 buckwheat. They are more regular in 

 outline, are usually round, or elliptical, 

 and have well marked concentric lines. 



Buckwheat flour is probably improved 

 by the addition of a certain proportion of 

 other flour, but the price of the mixture 

 should diminish in proportion to the 

 amount of cheaper flour added. 



E. M. Brace. 



Kansas University Quarterly, Vol. VII, 

 No. 1, January, 1898. Series A. 



The Preparation and Use in Class Dem- 

 onstration of Certain Cryptogamic Plant 

 Material. 



Some methods for the preparation of 

 cryptogamic material for class work are 

 described by M. A. Barber, of Kansas 

 University. 



Sclerotia, which may be found in rotten 

 wood, or on the ground under old logs, 

 was used for obtaining Plasmodia for the 

 study of the Myxomycetes. Pieces of the 

 material put in a warm, moist place 



usually develop Plasmodia in a few hours, 

 and the Plasmodia may be fed with rot- 

 ten wood and fleshy fungi. Small Plas- 

 modia, for the demonstration of proto- 

 plasmic currents, may be obtained by 

 putting pieces of sclerotia in a hanging 

 drop of water, or by placing in a large 

 cover glass on a Plasmodium, and trans- 

 ferring it to a moist cell after the Plas- 

 modium has run over it. 



Swarm spores of Myxomycetes may be 

 obtained by sowing spores in vials of 

 water. 



Drop cultures for the study of zoo- 

 spores and early stages of some Algae 

 were prepared by making incisions in a 

 piece of cork, and fltting large cover 

 glasses into the cuts in such a way that 

 some of them would be wholly, others 

 partly, submerged, when the cork was 

 floated on water. When this apparatus 

 was placed in a culture dish containing 

 algae, zoospores will fasten to the cover 

 glasses, and may then be mounted over 

 moist cells for a study. The Saproleg- 

 nieae are especially favorable for the 

 study of zoospores, and may also be used 

 to show the growth of hyphae and the 

 formation of oogonia, zoospores, and 

 antheridia. Material may be obtained by 

 throwing insects, spiders, or other 

 organic matter into pond water. A sup- 

 ply of water plants will keep such cul- 

 tures pure. 



The method of distribution of spores 

 through hygroscopic action in mosses, 

 ferns, equisetums, etc., may be shown to 

 large classes by means of the stereopti- 

 con in the following way: thick sections 

 made through the fruiting parts are 

 mounted in water on a slide without a 

 cover and the surplus water is drawn off. 

 When this is placed in the apparatus for 

 projecting objects on the screen, the heat 

 from the light dries the preparation rap- 

 idly, and the movements of the annuli 

 and elaters are shown on the screen. 



E. M. Brace. 



Kansas University Quarterly, Vol. VII, 

 No. 2, April, 1898. Series A. 



Refractive Index and Alcohol - Solvent 

 Power of a Number of Clearing and 

 Mounting Media. 



The results of some experiments on the 

 refractive and clearing powers of differ- 

 ent reagents are given by C. A. McClung, 

 of Kansas University. 



In ascertaining the clearing value of 

 substances, the method of testing the 

 strength of alcohol that would dissolve in 

 the reagent was found to be sufficiently 

 accurate for practical purposes. The 

 refractive index was determined by 

 means of the Pulfrich refractometer. 



The results show a series of clearing 

 agents with refractive indices varying 



