1895 THE MICROSCOPE. 47 



glands can be seen along the edge. Snake root (cross section of stem.) 

 Quinidine, an alkaloid obtained from Cinchona. Cinchona, Peruvian 

 bark. Crystals of chlorate of potassium. Crystals of sulphate of 

 morphine. Mandrake root, Podophyllum peltatimi, cross section. 

 Water lily, transverse section. Fennel, triplet mericarps. Licorice 

 wood, Glycyrrhiza glabra, {oxosss^oWon). Ipecac root (cross section). 

 Lycopodium adulterated with Pine Pollen. Slippery elm bark. Crys- 

 tals of benzoic acid. Thorn apple, Datura stramonium (cross section). 



Dr. Jos. H. Hunt. — Thin plates of quartz, shown with polarized light. 

 These plates are natural groups of quartz crystals which are distorted 

 into flat plates by being deposited between the layers of mica. 



Sereno N. Ayres. — Three micro-photographs. 



G. S. Woolman. — Insect scales, arranged in a bouquet of flowers. 



Queen & Co. — Tongue of blow fly. Native wire gold. North Carolina. 

 Crystals of copper. 



E. C. Chapman. — Foraminifera opaque. 



P. D. RoUhaus. — Seeds of the Grajidiflora imperialis. [in motion. 



F. L. Lathrop. — Aurichalcite, from Colorado, showing a deep cavity 

 William Krafft. — Sting of honey bee. Section of a lung of a coal 



miner. Blood from a frog. Proboscis of a butterfly. 



H. Bndemann, M. D. — A micro-spectroscope. 



Officers of the department; Horace W. Calef, President. H. S. 

 Woodman, Vice-President. C. P. Abbey, Treasurer, A. H. Ehrman, 

 Secretary. James Walker, Curator. 



Dr. Cutter's Method. ^If tuberculosis in its earliest stages 

 can be detected by looking at the blood with a microscope, as Dr. 

 Cutter claims, then our scientists will have another test for tuber- 

 culosis which can be used either separately or together wdththe 

 present tuberculin test. Dr. Cutter's method would be free from 

 some of the objections to the tuberculin test; for onl}^ a very small 

 quantity of the blood is needed and nothing is put into the 

 animal's system, so that nobody could claim that the disease is 

 hastened or favored by the test itself. The microscope test,more- 

 over could be made quickly without the labor and delay of taking 

 temperatures and watching results. It is also claimed that the 

 disease can be detected in any stage from first to the latest, 

 and that the extent of its ravages can be decided from the 

 blood, so that mild cases need not be slaughtered as now but 

 might, instead, be quarantined for possible complete recovery. 

 Certainly the claims of this test and position of its advocate 

 warrant investigation. As for Dr. Cutter's general theory, on the 

 causes and cure of the disease, the evidence does not appear 

 at all sufficient. It seems hardly to have been j^roved that the 



