OF MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS. "5 
under the microscope with the camel-hair pencil or other 
contrivance, as it is impossible to obtain them fit for mount- 
ing without undergoing this process. 
The sea soundings taken by order of Government are 
drawn from the bottom in a kind of apparatus ingeniously 
made for the purpose, and the sand, mud, &c., are brought 
up in their original state. Common soundings, however, 
are taken by lowering a heavy piece of. lead coated with 
tallow, which consequently brings up a small portion of the 
matter from the bottom. Mr. George Mosley, the late 
Secretary of the Manchester Microscopic Society, obtained 
numbers of the “ scrapings” from the sounding leads. To 
make any use of these it is, of course, necessary to freé them 
from all traces of the tallow. Mr. Dancer places the sound- 
ing in a basin and pours boiling water upon it, which causes 
the melted grease to rise to the surface. When cold, this 
may be removed, and the water carefully decanted. The 
operation may be repeated until no grease appears, when 
the water may be withdrawn and liquor ammonie used, 
which will form a soapy solution with any remaining grease. 
This must be treated with hot water for the final washing. 
Care must be taken lest the finer forms be carried away in 
decanting the washing liquid. Should it be wished to make 
certain as to this point, each washing should be examined 
under the microscope. In some cases the process of Mr. 
Dancer will prove sufficient. Mr. Dale, however, gives a 
method of acoomplishing the same result, which is much 
more readily completed; and as no fault can be found with 
these results, I will here give it in full: It is now well known 
that one of the products obtained from the naphtha of coal- 
tar is a volatile, oily substance, termed Lenzole (or, by 
French chemists, benzine), the boiling-point of which, when 
pure, is about 180° Fahrenheit, and which is a perfect 
solvent of fatty substances. In a capsule, previously 
warmed on a sand-bath, Mr. Dale mixes with the tallow 
soundings some of this benzole, until diluted so as to run 
freely, pressing the lumps with a glass rod until thoroughly 
