No. 3.] THE EMBRYOLOGY OF A TERMITE. 507 



on a piece of tracing paper smeared with a thin layer of collo- 

 dion fixative, and ruled with parallel lines by a needle point. 

 The paper is now dipped into xylol and then placed in the 

 paraffine bath. After imbedding, the paper may be stripped 

 off, leaving lines on the surface of the paraffine which give the 

 proper direction for cutting. It is possible in this way to obtain 

 especially thin sections of quite early discs, in any desired plane. 

 Enough yolk adheres to the disc, when dissected off, to make 

 plain its relations to the interior of the egg. In later stages 

 the entire Qg% is satisfactorily sectioned by the same method, 

 care being taken to prick the side which will lie uppermost in 

 the parafRne bath, to insure penetration. To prevent the yolk 

 from becoming brittle, eggs which are to be sectioned should 

 not be kept in clove oil any longer than is necessary to clear 

 thoroughly. 



In studying the %%% as an entire transparent object, I have 

 found it best to prick each specimen with a sharp needle under 

 the dissecting microscope ; then stain in Grenacher's borax 

 carmine for two days ; wash out in cold 70 per cent alcohol, 

 acidified with 20 drops of nitric acid to every 100 cc. alcohol, 

 for three or four days or longer, until the stain remains only in 

 the nuclei ; transfer gradually to absolute alcohol, and finally 

 into xylol, which gives whiter and clearer specimens than 

 clove oil. 



Eggs for sectioning are usually stained in this way before 

 cutting, though it is best not to wash these out so much, and 

 as I have said, clove oil is then used to clear. 



Good surface views of the germ-band at various ages are also 

 obtained by staining the specimen, dissected off from the yolk, 

 in rather strong Delafield's haematoxylin for a very short 

 time. 



General Description of the Egg. 



There are no special chambers for nurseries, or for the queen, 

 in the nests of this species of Termes. (This species has been 

 described from Jamaica as Euternies Rippertii. I shall question 

 this for reasons which will appear at another time. Hence the 

 interrogation mark after Rippertii in the title.) On cutting 



