1893.] NEW-YORK MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 25 



spring (S), is wired to the bottom of a small, round pasteboard 

 box. A thin, loose roll of soft Japanese paper against the inner 

 side of the box prevents the dislodgment of any covers inserted 

 in the coils of the spring ; and the box, when closed, can be easily 

 carried in the pocket. 



II. Gas Mounting- Stand. 



In place of the small mounting-table with alcohol lamp, ordina- 

 rily used by themicroscopist, the little adjustable mounting-stand 

 with gas attachment, here exhibited, has been in use for several 

 years in our laboratory, having been somewhat modified from 

 time to time until it has reached this form. It has the advantage 

 of economy, especially in laboratory use with young students, on 

 account of its tiny gas-jet ; it is portable, adjustable, and easily 

 taken apart ; convenient in the long retention of heat by the sand- 

 box attached beneath the mounting-plate ; and affords support on 

 the ring for small evaporations, or for gentle warming or diges- 

 tion, when the ring is adjusted over the mounting-plate. A 

 thumb-screw attachment to the arm of the burner, for clamping 

 it to the upright rod, might be convenient, but is easily dispensed 

 with. In the form here shown, the stand has been made for us 

 for some time, both in New York and Philadelphia, and has 

 ■probably been elsewhere supplied by the manufacturers. 



The improvement I have now to present consists in the conver- 

 sion of the burner, which is often objectionable on account of its 

 smoky flame, into a minute Bunsen burner an inch in length. 

 This is easily accomplished by slipping over the nipple a little 

 tube of brass foil, easily made by any one in a couple of minutes, 

 or, better, of brass tubing, of about six millimetres in diameter, 

 with two small air-holes, on opposite sides, near the bottom, as 

 in a Bunsen burner. 



The blue, hot, and clean flame thus obtained is not only best 

 fitted for ordinary heating in microscopical processes, as for burn- 

 ing off the soiled point of a mounting-needle, without soot, but is 

 particularly useful in bacteriological manipulations. Thus, the 

 drying of bacteria-films upon covers is commonly done by passing 

 the thin cover back and forth, three times, through the compara- 

 tively huge flame of an ordinary Bunsen burner, at the speed of 

 "a knife cutting bread." In place of this rough method, the 



