and Laboratory Methods. 



2259 



removing the paraffin from the sections as well as the oil of cloves by means of 

 xylol, it may be possible to obtain satisfactory celloidin mounts which can be 

 gently detached from the slide and treated as celloidin sections. 



IV. 

 A Precaution as to the Use of Fucbsin for Staining Tubercle Bacilli.— In the 



course of our routine examination of sputum for tubercle bacilli we had occasion 

 to use by mistake carbol-fuchsin prepared from acid-fuchsin or " Fuchsin S.-" 

 Gruebler. We found that the tubercle bacilli, when present, are but faintly 

 stained ; that other bacteria retain the stain after decolorization ; and that when 

 the specimen is counterstained, the tubercle bacilli are readily overlooked. This 

 fact had been established by making comparative preparations stained with acid 

 fuchsin and basic fuchsin. The precaution is that in making carbol-fuchsin the 

 basic dye alone should be used. A. Robin. 



Delaware State Board of Health Laboratory, Newark, Del. 



A Still. 



The accompanying illustration shows a very simple 

 apparatus for securing large quantities of distilled 

 water in laboratories heated by steam. With the ap- 

 paratus as shown in the diagram, distilled water may 

 be secured at the rate of from fifteen hundred to three 

 thousand c. c. per hour. The cost of the apparatus 

 need not exceed one dollar. A piece of metal tubing, 

 V, one-half inch in diameter and from twelve to eighteen 

 inches in length, is connected with the air-valve or 

 vent of a radiator, R. A piece of tin spouting, T, 

 about five inches in diameter and six feet or more in 

 length. The piece of spouting is placed in an upright 

 position and the tube V from the radiator is passed into 

 it through a small opening near the lower end. The 

 upper end of T is closed by a flat piece of tin, and by 

 the valve S the amount of steam allowed to pass from 

 the radiator into T can be regulated ; no more steam 

 should be allowed to pass into the tube than will be 

 condensed. The water is collected by means of the 

 glass funnel and bottle, F and B. 



The apparatus as described has been in use for 

 two years, and has given excellent results. 

 DePauw University. E. O. Little. 



A Simple Still. 



