QUARTERLY CHRONICLE OF MICROSCOPICAL 

 SCIENCE. 



Histology. Textbooks. — The third part of the ' Manual 

 of Histolofjy,' edited by Strieker, has appeared, and contains 

 the followin*^ articles : — The Blood-vessels of the Intestinal 

 Canal, by Tohlt ; the Liver, by Hering ; the Larynx, by 

 Verson : the Lungs, by F, E. Schultze ; the Kidney, by 

 Ludwig; the Supra-renal Capsules, by Eberth ; the Urinary 

 Bladder, by Obersteiner; the Testicle, by La Valette St. 

 George; the Ovaries, by Waldeyer ; the Skin, &c., by 

 Biesiadecki ; the Serous Membranes, by Klein. 



M. Robin has brought out a second edition of his ' Pro- 

 gramme du Cours d'Histologie.' 



The Blood.— Geinitz (Pfluger's 'Archiv,' No. 1, 1870). 

 has examined the action of hydrocyanic acid on the blood- 

 corpuscles. If frogs were poisoned with cyanide of potassium 

 or hydrocyanic acid, the blood-discs examined after death 

 showed two remarkable changes. Their shape became 

 rounder, or, in fact, very nearly circular, and their edges 

 became crenulated and granular. The former change pre- 

 dominated when the acid was used, the latter when the salt. 

 In another series of experiments a drop of blood was exposed 

 to the action of hydrocyanic acid vapour in the " moist 

 chamber " of Strieker. The blood-discs first underwent the 

 changes above described, and then dissolved altogether, 

 except their nuclei, the pigment becoming diffused through 

 the liquid. Similar results were obtained with the blood of 

 Avarm-blooded animals, the discs first assuming the chai'ac- 

 teristic " mulberry " shape, and then dissolving altogether. 

 These changes are supposed to explain the brilliant colour 

 which blood assumes when treated with hydrocyanic acid, 

 the enlarged corpuscles reflecting more light than in the 

 normal state. 



Spontaneous Divisiofi of Wliite Blood-cells. — Klein (' Med. 

 Centralblatt,' January 8th) has observed the phenomena of 

 division, especially in the white cells of the newt's blood. Adrop 

 is brought into the moist chamber under the microscope, and 

 kept at a temperature of 25° to 30° C. Two masses may 



