2016 Journal of Applied Microscopy 



n 4 u * vLi I V ^ 11 c. J- T c • ^1 In this work considerable attention was 

 Osterhout, W. J. V. Cell Studies. I. Spindle 



formation in Agave. Proceedings of the given tO technique, especially tO fixing. 



California Acad, of Sciences. Ser. III. 2: About forty fixing agents were tested 



255-284, pis. 25-28, 1902. . . ° 



by watching their effect upon the liv- 

 ing cell, and it was found that some of the most highly recommended solutions 

 produce profound disturbances in the cytoplasm. For most objects fixing agents 

 were found which produced no visible change in the living cell, as far as could 

 be observed with a 2 mm. oil immersion lens during the application of the 

 reagent, but even in some such cases the material undergoes structural changes 

 after a few hours and the time must be shortened accordingly. Flemming's 

 strong mixture proved to be the best in most cases ; very fair results were ob- 

 tained with iridium chloride, platinum chloride, palladium chloride, and Flem- 

 ming's strong mixture with an excess of chromic. Material was washed from 

 two to eight hours in running water and then dehydrated. Mixtures of absolute 

 alcohol and bergamot oil were used for clearing. 



Gentian violet was used for staining kinoplasm. If the stain washes out too 

 readily, some gentian violet should be dissolved in the absolute alcohol. From 

 two to twenty seconds immersion in dilute iodide iodine solution just before 

 transferring to the absolute alcohol, often gives a sharper differentiation. 



The summary of Prof. Osterhout's work on spindle formation in Agave 

 americana is partly as follows : During early stages in the first division of the 

 pollen mother cell the spindle is enclosed in a special membrane of cytoplasmic 

 origin, which forms a complete investment around it. The functions of the mem- 

 brane appear to be comparable to those of the nuclear wall and the limiting 

 membrane of the cytoplasm. There is no weft of fibers such as is usually 

 described for that stage. The spindle-forming fibers are radial from the begin- 

 ning, and are attached both to the nuclear and the spindle wall. The second 

 division differs radically from the first, the spindle-formation resembling in gen- 

 eral that described for the spore mother cells of Eqiiisetum. 



The plates are in three colors, reproducing the effect of the safranin-gentian 

 violet-orange stain. c. j. c. 



Leavitt, Robert 0. Outlines of Botany for the This book was prepared at the request 



High School Laboratory and Class-room r^, i^-ii , ^ c tt j 



(Based on Gray's Lesson in Botany.) 8vo. o^ the botanical department of Harvard 



pp. 272, figs. 384, New York American Book University. The descriptive text fol- 



■' ^ ■ lows, in the main, the sequence of 



topics of Gray's Lessons in Botany and much of the phraseology is retained. 



More attention has been given to Cryptogams as well as to physiology and the 



relation of plants to their surroundings. The exercises and experiments are so 



chosen that schools with compound microscopes and convenient apparatus will 



have an opportunity to use their equipment, while, on the other hand, the needs 



of schools with only simple microscopes and limited equipment have been kept 



in mind. 



The writer has succeeded in the task imposed upon him, but, in our opinion, 

 the times have so far outgrown Gray's Lessons that a revision is impossible. 

 Gray was the most progressive American botanist of his time, and were he still 

 alive, we believe he would, like Sachs, refuse to make another revision of a 

 book which needed to be replaced. We believe that Prof. Leavitt could have 

 written a better book, had he not been handicapped by the old lessons. 



c. J. c. 



