iz8 THE MICROSCOPE. 



Some patient apiarian enthusiast, who has watched their movements, 

 concludes that the proboscis of the bee must, therefore, be inserted 

 into 500 clover tubes before one grain of sugar can be obtained. 

 There are 7,000 grains in a pound, and as honey contains three- 

 fourths of its weight of dry sugar, each pound of honey represents 

 2,500,000 clover tubes sucked by bees. 



Detection of Inks.— If a forger has used a different ink to 

 that used by the original writer of the document, his error can be 

 made manifest by the following manner: Get nine \ or 1 oz. vials 

 and fill separately, with (1) dilute sulphuric acid; (2) concentrated 

 muriatic acid; (3) dilute nitric acid; (4) solution of sulphurous acid; 

 (5) solution of caustic soda; (6) concentrated solution of oxalic acid; 

 (7) solution of chloride of lime; (8) solution of tin crystals; (9) solu- 

 tion of proto-chloride of tin. Take nine quill pens, each one for its 

 particular reagent. Now, with a rule, draw lines crossing original 

 and suspected portions; the difference will show itself at a glance. — 

 Am. Chem. Rev. 



The Blue Color of Milk. — Herr Hansen, an authority in 

 such matters, explains in a recent foreign scientific journal, the 

 cause of the blue color of milk. He has discovered in milk which 

 has become blue, a peculiar microscopical organism, known as 

 bacteria, which multiplies with very great rapidity, and in so doing 

 produces a peculiar blue matter similar to aniline. Milk which is 

 kept in such a manner as to prevent the access of these organisms 

 does not become blue. In view of these facts, it is evident that blue 

 milk is unfit for food; and, although it may be taken with apparent 

 impunity by adults with vigorous digestive powers, it should never 

 be given to children, whose weaker stomachs would be unable to re- 

 sist the tendency which such milk possesses. — The Household. 



Banqueting a Microscopist. — Prof. Joseph Leidy, the great 

 microscopist, during a visit to Charleston, last winter, was given a 

 reception and banquet by the prominent citizens of that city. 

 Among the good things served upon that occasion was a peculiar 

 fish, that always carries a tumor-like excrescence upon its tail. This 

 rotundity is regarded by the natives as a great delicacy, so that the 

 tails only of the fish that carry it are cooked and eaten. The Pro- 

 fessor, not exactly pleased with the appearance of this delicate 



