62 THE MICROSCOPE. Apr., 



create unnecessary alarm. • Curiously he is the Judge of a court. 

 We should hate to be tried before him. 



We think the above explanation does exact justice to both 

 parties and can be rehed upon by others who have any idea of 

 getting stained diatoms. Should further developments put any 

 different aspect upon the matter we shall regard the public in- 

 terests as paramount to those of Lighton, the purchaser or even 

 of ourselves. We shall discontinue the advertisement the 

 moment any dishonest proceedings develop. Our favor will 

 not be bought with money, advertising or other considera- 

 tions. We have fallen upon evil times and deceptions 

 abound. We lost a subscriber last year by telling the truth 

 about his book. We can spare one or two more on the same 

 terms, if need be. 



PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS. 



By L. a. WILLSON, 

 clevela.nd, ohio. 



Making Sections of Coal. — In the February number of the 

 Microscope an article under the above title was published. The 

 recipe or process though taken from a standard authority seems 

 to be open to objection. The jDrocess there published is said to 

 be a])plicable to lignite only. For coal, I abstract the following 

 process from Acadian Geology, by Dawson, p. 493 et seq. 



The vegetable nature of coal may be seen by closely inspecting 

 the surfaces of a lump of the mineral with the aid of a bright 

 light and a magnifying glass. For the microscope, results have 

 been obtained, more particularly, with mineral charcoal. Select 

 specimens containing the tissues of a single plant. 



Fragments or portions of stems of this character can be ob- 

 tained b}^ careful manipulation from most coal. Place the pieces 

 to be examined in marked test tubes, treat them with strong 

 nitric acid, heat to the boiling point and keep in that condition 

 so long as dense fumes of nitrous acid are disengaged, or until 

 looking through the tube, the material can be seen to have a 

 brown color and a certain degree of transparency. In many 

 cases, boiling in this manner for a short time is sufficient to ren- 

 der the fibers flexible and as transparent as slices of recent wood 

 when slightly charred. 



