'893.] 



NEW-YORK MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



27 



wire, of the usual gauge for blowpipe-work, its temper having 

 been removed before the winding, and restored afterward by 

 quick annealing, plunging while red-hot into cold water. The 

 wire at one end of the coil is bent into a little loop for suspen- 

 sion. After long continued use, the platinum wire has the special 

 advantage of being easily purified and retempered by heating to 

 red heat and again plunging in cold water. 



2. A small, wide mouthed flask (Fig. 2, B) to hold the staining- 

 solution. This may have a capacity of about forty cubic centi- 



0/ 



Fig. 2. 



metres, with an aperture at the mouth of at least two centimetres. 

 To this a wide cork (Fig. 2, C) is somewhat loosely fitted, on the 

 under side of which is stuck a pin bent into hook-form, from 

 which the coil A may be hung. This flask, when in use, is kept 

 about two-thirds filled with the desired staining-solution. 



3. A wide mouthed, glass-stoppered bottle (Fig. 2, D), of the 

 same aperture as the flask, to hold the second solution, which is 

 often required, as a mordant. 



For example, in the staining of bacteria-films dried upon 

 covers, the flask B will receive the solution of campechian or 

 other stain, and the bottle D the mordant solution of sodium 



