6 THE MICROSCOPE. Jan. 
do not require varnishing, neither do they turn brown, 
but although, of course, they do not perserve their sheen 
like fish in the oil itself, they always maintain a silvery 
and natural appearance, quite different from that of ordin- 
ary museum specimens. Ifever we get a new fish gal- 
lery, ashow of our large species prepared in this way . 
would form a most effective exhibition. 
“Tt appears also to be a most excellent preservative 
for crustacea and the higher orders of arachnids, and 
also for centipedes, but it has hitherto proved a failure 
for marine invertebrates in general. It must be remem- 
bered, however, that the perfect miscibility of the two 
liquids opens endless possibilities. Its absolutely un- 
evaporable nature makes it invaluable in a tropical cli- 
mate, quite apart from its other qualities. 
“With regard to this last remark, I take the oppor- 
tunity of stating that the acid enables cocoanut oil and 
turpentine to be mixed together. This forms a splendid 
microscopic fluid, in which objects may be allowed to 
soak without any previous preparation; and in which 
they become very transparent. A minute species of crus- 
tacean, of the order Copepoda, and the leg of a fly, sim- 
ply laid on aslide in adrop of this fluid and covered 
with an ordinary covering glass, without any cell being 
made or cement employed, have lain on my table un- 
altered for the last ten months, and | cannot help think- 
ing that such a medium as this cannot fail to prove a 
great boon to all workers with the microscope.” 
Palpal Organs of Spiders. 
By THOS J. BRAY. 
PITTSBURG, PA. 
A short time ago a friend sent me a mounted. object 
for examination, stating in his letter accompanying it, 
that it was a spider with the funnyest arrangement on its 
