136 The Microscope. 



cement, of which I sent him a dozen bottles, and subsequently 

 more than a gross of them. For some years now, however, he 

 has made his own, from my formula. I have many slides now 

 in my cabinet of fluid mounts made with this cement from 1867 

 to 1871 which have never been touched since, and are " good as 

 new." 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Long Papers vs. Short Papers. — It is difficult to imagine 

 anything more trying than to listen to a long paper read in a 

 crowded room on a warm day, especially if the subject is one 

 in which we are not interested. The speaker may be gifted 

 and the article may be a valuable contribution, yet the result 

 will be the same. 



We are of the opinion that a paper should never be read, 

 before a society, of more than twenty minutes in length. 

 Whole treatises on unusual subjects should not be inflicted 

 upon the suffering and defenseless members. If any person 

 has a longer paper than indicated above, which the publishing 

 committee think worthy of publication, then let us have only 

 an abstract of it at the public meetings. Our verbose author 

 will reply that this abstract will not allow the subject to be 

 presented full enough to permit of free discussion at its close ; 

 in reply to which we ask, did you ever hear a paper discussed 

 that had occupied an hour in its reading? The truth is the 

 members are so tired at the end of the hour that their only de- 

 sire is to again breathe plenty of fresh air. 



The conclusion of the above matter is that the executive 

 committee should authorize the secretary of the American 

 Association to notify all parties intending to present papers 

 at the Cleveland meeting that, first : No author shall occupy 

 more than twenty minutes in reading his paper; second, no 

 paper should be read by title only; third, papers more than 

 twenty minutes in length should be read in abstract ; and 

 fourth, discussions should be limited to ten minutes in length. 

 Short papers, short speeches, and short sessions, will give the 

 members more of an opportunity for social intercourse and 

 comparison of notes, and will insure a successful meeting. 



