The Microscope. 149 



'Hr^HE thirteenth annual report of the American Postal Micro- 

 •*- scopical Club is just at hand, and we learn from it that the 

 usual amount of work has been accomplished by the society dviring 

 the past year, in spite of absurd postal restrictions. One feature in 

 the past year's work, however, has, to us, been disappointing — namely, 

 the paucity of notes and comments in the note-books. As is well 

 known, the club is not a money-making society, the receipts from 

 membership fees all going to pay running expenses, it is an associa- 

 tion of microscopists devoted purely to mutual help in this depart- 

 ment of science. The slides sent out during 1886-87 have been as 

 rule good, some of them meriting the tenn excellent, and have offered 

 a wide field for comment criticism and suggestion. The few 

 extracts from the note books republished in the report indicate how 

 meagre these notes have been, and to what a limited extent members 

 of the club have availed themselves of the opportunity of helping 

 their fellows in the different circuits. We have before urged that 

 the usefulness of this exceedingly useful club would be a thousand- 

 fold enhanced if members would discuss the slides sent them more 

 fully, and give their own experience with different methods of 

 preparation, stains and mounting media, applicable to the specimen 

 on the slide before them. In this manner valuable information 

 would be obtained, and the whole guild of microscopists benefited. 

 The Journal of the English Postal Microscopical Society has for its 

 motto, " Knowledge is not given us to keep, but to impart ; its worth 

 is lost in concealment ;" and we wish every member, not only of the 

 American club, but also of the fraternity of microscopists would 

 constantly keep this in mind. 



Acknowledgments. — From Henry Shimer, A. M., M. D., por- 

 traits of himself taken at different ages; from Dr. J. E. Reeves, one 

 of the finest mounts of B. Tuberculosis in lung tissue that we have 

 seen; from E. S. Coutant, interesting mounts of parasite from wing 

 of osprey; and young, of long scale insect of orange; from Fr'. 

 Dienelt, mount of spiracles of coleoptera lava; from Dr. Henry 

 Shimer, mount of liver and lung of rabbit; from Dr. W. C. Borden, 

 mounts of lung of five months' fcetus and kidney of frog, stained in 

 alcoholic alum carmine; the slides show to advantage the beautiful 

 effect of the above stain, the formula for which appeared in our 

 March number. 



