NOTES AND MEMOEANDA. 83 



six pages. M. Pasteur describes the MSS. as " one of the most curious 

 revelations possible of the influence of a defective system on a person 

 extremely exact and given to rigorous experimentation. It is a sterile 

 attempt to substitute for well-established facts the deductions of an 

 ephemeral system. The glory of our illustrious confrere cannot be 

 diminished by it. The errors of tbose who have accomplished a 

 valiant career have only the philosophic interest which belongs to 

 the recognition of oiu* human weakness. Men are great only by the 

 services which they have rendered, a maxim which I am happy to 

 borrow from Bernard's last words." 



Dry Preparations of Diatoms, «S:c. — Although there are many 

 processes for making balsam jjreparations of very thin objects which 

 are required to be placed in the most favourable position lor observa- 

 tion, or in a particular order, yet few are able to accomplish this 

 readily in the case of dry preparations except M. Moller, whose process 

 is a secret. 



The following is said by M. G. Marmod in the 'Journal de 

 Micrographie ' * to be a very simple method. Heat a small quantity 

 of oil of cloves, and expose a slide to the vapour until there is deposited 

 on the slide a series of very small drops. These drops take an hour 

 or two to evaporate completely, and there is therefore plenty of time 

 to arrange the diatoms or other objects, which will remain after the 

 evaporation solidly fixed and without deposit. 



The Organs of Attachment of Stentors. — From an examination 

 of Stentor cceruleus, Professor A. Gruber has succeeded f in finding 

 out how these animals eifect an attachment to foreign objects. He 

 agrees with Stein J that a suctorial disk is never found, althouf^h 

 sometimes a slight disk-shaped dejiression is seen at tlie posterior 

 extremity of the body, but disagrees with Stein's further statement, 

 that the attachment is effected by means of " very fine pseudopodia- 

 like processes " of the sarcode, which radiate thickly from the 

 posterior pole of the body and appear like a skein of elongated bristle- 

 shaped cilia. No structure of that kind was found in S. cceruleus, 

 though vibratile cilia were seen which were longer than the rest, and 

 which doubtless gave rise to Stein's descrij)tion. 



In all Stentors there are to be found immediately after they have 

 detached themselves, variously shaped small appendages at the 

 posterior extremity of the body, which on closer examination prove to 

 be amoeboid processes of the sarcode. When the animal has no 

 opportunity of attaching itself these processes disappear, for the most 

 part somewhat rapidly, after repeatedly changing their form, and the 

 end of the pedicle appears uniformly rounded. On the other hand 

 in the case of an animal which has found an object to which it can 

 attach itself, it is seen that the processes, mostly finger-shaped or 

 drawn out into fine pseudopodia, are clasjjed round the object. 



If the view of Stein were correct, that the muscle-stripes of the 



* ' Jourual de Micrographie,' vol. ii. p. 506. 



t ' Zoologischer Anzeiger,' vol. i. p. 390. 



X 'Der Organismus tier Infus ,' II. Abth. p. 224. 



G 2 



