l3 8 THE MICROSCOPE. 



material from which to select. Every number contains more or less 

 of illustration. 



For some things The Microscope is certainly to be com- 

 mended. It is eminently practical, and yet deals with principles 

 all the while, it contains practical suggestions and directions, valua- 

 ble to every microscopist. Its pages are not running over with 

 egotism and self-conceit. It does not claim to be the leading micro- 

 scopic journal of the world or of this country. 



During Prof. Stowell's illness, Mrs. S. edited and issued the 

 January number, which was one of the best of the series. No one 

 who knows Mrs. S., however, would be surprised at that. 



There is a growing interest in the dental profession on the sub- 

 ject of microscopy, and I have no hesitancy in saying, that the mem- 

 bers of the profession can nowhere else so well and so economically 

 supply themselves with a periodical on this subject. 



Those who wish this journal should address Prof. C. H. Stowell, 

 Ann Arbor, Mich. — Prof. J. Tail, in Dental Register. 



Bacillus Mounting. — In the Medical Press, March 28, 1883, 

 Dr. F. J. B. Quinlan thus describes what he considers the best 

 method of preparing tubercular bacilli for the microscope. Take 

 a button of phthisical expectoration in an advanced case — the first 

 expectoration in the morning is the best; pour upon it a few drops 

 of liquor potassae, and work it with a glass rod until it becomes a 

 homogeneous fluid. Put a drop of this fluid upon a microscopic 

 cover-glass, from .006 to .004 thick, and allow it to dry. Now pass 

 it lightly through the flame of a spirit-lamp, filter upon it a few 

 drops of magenta aniline solution, and let it lie for twenty minutes. 

 Place it in a mixture of one-third nitric acid and two-thirds of dis- 

 tilled water until it bleaches, which will take about five minutes, 

 and wash it with water. Next drop upon it a little methyl blue 

 solution, and let it stand for five minutes; and finally get rid of all 

 aqueous fluid, by dipping it in absolute alcohol. To mount it, put 

 a small drop of Canada balsam and benzine upon a glass micro- 

 scopic slide, and put the cover-glass on it with the bacillar surface 

 immersed in the balsam. This will soon harden, and will preserve 

 the preparation indefinitely. The plan depends upon the fact that 

 once the bacilli are stained red they cannot be decolorized by the 

 nitric acid, which bleaches everything else; it is much facilitated 

 and hastened by doing it at a warm temperature. By this method 

 the bacilli are seen scarlet, and the other elements of the sputa blue. 

 The bacillus is about one-third the size of a red blood corpuscle, 

 and requires a power of at least 500 to exhibit it satisfactorily. 

 The process is delicate and a little tedious; and from my own lab- 

 oratory experience of it, I doubt if it will become a clinical test in 

 general practice. — Med. and Surg. Reporter. 



