and Laboratory Methods. 1435 



NEWS AND NOTES. 



It is recommended in the study of infusoria to use, in place of powdered 

 carmin, water-color carmin. The infusoria are added to a drop of water in 

 which a very small quantity of the stain has been dissolved. 



In the study of the mouth parts of the crayfish very satisfactory results have 

 been obtained by sewing the parts, in their proper order, to a piece of stiff linen 

 paper. Thus mounted the parts may be preserved in vials in 3 per cent, forma- 

 lin, and be ready at any time for study in connection with the whole specimen. 



A Convenient Table for Formalin Solutions. 



100 % formalin=:40% formaldehyde, usual strength of commercial solutions. 

 50 " " =20 " 

 25 " " ==10" 

 121" '< =5" 

 10"" " =4" 



71" . " ==3 " 

 5" " " = 2 " 



1^" " =0.4" 



:1 vol. formalin -f-1 vol. water. Total=2 vols. 



— ^ << u -1-3 " " " =4 " 



= 1 " " +7 " " " =8 " 



= 1 " " +9 " " " =10 " 



=1 " " +121 " " =131" 



=1 " " +19" " " =20 " 



= 1 " " +39" " " =40 " 



= 1 " " +99" " " =100" 



The Biological Department of Earlham College has recently issued Bulletin 

 No. 1, containing fifty-five excellent photo-micrographs of fertilization, matura- 

 tion, and segmentation stages of ascaris, and the development stages of the 

 chick. The illustrations, together with the running description accompanying 

 them, briefly and concisely summarize the steps in embryological development 

 from the unfertilized egg to the union of the alantois with the alimentary canal. 



Referring to Mr. H. A. Doty's article on " Conochilus and Vorticella as 

 Commensals " (J. A. M. 3 : 989), Mr. H. D. Thompson of Moline, III, notes 

 the following observation : 



" For some years I have been wont, when other methods failed me, to 

 obtain Vorticellse for class use by collecting quantities of cyclops, with a small 

 muslin net, from a certain spring hole. The Vorticellae, living in great abun- 

 dance on these cyclops specimens, are invariably provided with a short stalk, 

 which is only slightly contractile, and incapable of assuming the usual spiral 

 posture." 



Pheln's Method of Staining the Malaria Parasite. — Wash the fixed 

 specimens for three or four minutes in absolute alcohol, after which they are 

 stained for five or six minutes in the following solution : 



Methylen blue, cone, aq. sol., 15 



Eosin, Yz per cent. sol. in alcohol, 75 per cent., 5 



Water, dist., . 10 



Sodium hydrate, 20 per cent., 3 drops. 



After thorough washing in water, mount in Canada balsam. 



