Laboratory Notes and Queries. 7 1 



ter soon settles to the bottom, but in a one-per-cent. solution of soap 

 they remain suspended much longer. The author believes that the 

 detergent power of soap is caused by this pedetic action, and this ex- 

 plains why soap is a better detergent than the free alkali from which 

 it is made. 



— The origin of the minute spherules of metallic iron and nickel found 

 in the fine red clay forming over the bottom of the deep sea has not yet 

 been determined. By some they are thought to be of cosmic origin — 

 minute meteorites ; by others, and among them Sir Wm. Thomson, 

 they are thought to come from the disintegration of igneous rocks 

 and products from submarine volcanoes. 



— M. Pasteur has promised to repeat the experiments of the late 

 Claude Bernard which M. Berthelot has recently published. M. 

 Bernard reached conclusions opposed to those of M. Pasteur in re- 

 gard to the phenomena of alcoholic fermentation, but the latter be- 

 lieves that the experiments can be repeated by himself and that 

 they will support his views. 



LABORATORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Dear Editor : — It seems to me that a column of this kind in the 

 American Quarterly Microscopical Journal will be very fruitful in good 

 results ; for it will approximately take the place of personal intercourse, 

 which is mostly impossible for the comparatively few microscopists in 

 our great country. It will serve as a friendly middle-man, telling of 

 the little things that are hit upon to lessen labor, and so render possible 

 to all what might otherwise be possible only to the few. It will be 

 also a repository in which may be stored up these valuable little things 

 that go so far towards ensuring success and lessening drudgery. And 

 finally, in its answers, it will give invaluable information to hundreds 

 who are denied the privilege of access to elaborate books and mono- 

 graphs. 



It would properly contain : i. Short notes on original observations 

 and methods of work, or improvements on old methods. 2. The best 

 and most available sources of working material. 3. Practical questions 

 and answers. 



S. H. Gage. 



[We heartily approve of the suggestions of this letter, and will devote sufficient space in every 

 issue to such a column. Subscribers and others are requested to contribute freely to these notes 

 which may be made very useful. We are indebted to Mr. Gage for many valuable services. The 

 following are from Mr. Gage, of Cornell University Anatomical Laboratory. — Ed.] 



I. The microscopical study of live aquatic animals is often very 

 tedious and unsatisfactory on account of their almost constant motion. 

 This may be very effectually overcome by adding a small quantity of 



