4 o THE MICROSCOPE. 



the annual loss from charbon was 322 animals; since vaccination but 

 1 1 cows were lost, showing a reduction in the annual mortality from 

 7^0 per cent, to j 2 ,, 4 ,, of 1 per cent. 



As the mortality from charbon among horses was light, and 

 vaccination induced grandular enlargements, the operation was not 

 undertaken on a grand scale. 



Simple Method of Embedding Small Bodies. — In every 

 treatise on microscopical manipulation there are given directions for 

 embedding for section cutting, but the writer has devised a method 

 for small bodies which possesses several advantages. The modus 

 operandi is as follows: The substance to be embedded is hardened 

 after any of the usual methods and placed, from alcohol into tur- 

 pentine and then transferred to a saturated solution of paraffine in 

 turpentine, the same as in all methods of paraffine embedding. 

 Here is where the novelty comes in. The specimen is removed 

 from the mixture and the superfluous fluid removed by means of 

 blotting paper and then placed on the end of a cylinder of paraffine 

 (or paraffine and vaseline). A bit of stout iron wire is now heated 

 in the flame of a spirit lamp, and with it a hole is melted in the 

 end of the cylinder, and the specimen then pushed into the melted 

 paraffine and placed in any desired position. The advantages of 

 the method are: the quickness with which it may be performed, for 

 from the time when the operation is begun until sections can be 

 cut is not over three minutes, while the melting of so small an 

 amount of paraffine prevents any injury to tissues by overheating. 

 In embedding solid bodies, a slight variation sometimes results in 

 the saving of more time. The specimen may be embedded directly 

 from alcohol without the intervening turpentine, and then when the 

 section is cut it readily separates from the shaving of paraffine 

 without the use of turpentine to dissolve it. This, of course, applies 

 to solid bodies without cavities or irregular outline. — Scientific and 

 Literary Gossip. 



