SUPPLEMENTAL NUMBER. 



Journal 



OF THE 



NEW-YORK MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



Vol. II. DECEMBER, 1886. No. 9a. 



RAISING DIATOMS IN THE LABORATORY. 



BY PROF. SAMUEL LOCKWOOD, PH. D. 



{Read December i-jth, 1886.) 



Plates VI and VII. 



April TSt, 1870, brought to a close the writer's residence of 

 sixteen years at Keyport, New Jersey, on the south side of Rari- 

 tan Bay. The place has long been noted for its oyster industry. 

 From the oystermen there I sometimes obtained living marine 

 objects which afforded incentives and opportunities for study. 

 About to move to Freehold, fourteen miles inland, I besought 

 these oystermen, friends of mine, not to forget to send me any- 

 thing they found which they thought would interest me. To be 

 prepared for the reception of such favors, I took with me a large 

 demijohn of sea-water, so that an aquarium could be improvised. 

 The water was taken at high tide from the Bay near the steam- 

 boat landing, and, owing to the mud held in suspension, it was 

 very turbid. Trusting that the water would come out right after 

 sedimentation, I put the vessel containing it in the cellar of my 

 new house at Freehold. The black glass of the demijohn, its 

 opaque encasing and its situation in a dark cellar, effectually 

 prevented light from reaching its contents. This exclusion of 

 light was, however, the result of mere chance, and not of design. 

 The years rolled by, the sea-water was undisturbed and almost 

 forgotten. "Out of sight, out of mind." No specimens came 

 from my oystermen until the first week in December, 1882, when 

 one of them sent me, " some oyster-moss just got from the Bay." 

 It disappointed me, because it was a common object, Sertularia 



