210 The Miceoscope. 



is made by fastening a wide-mouthed glass bottle (such as a poma- 

 tum pot) to the end of a walking-stick, by means of a stout copper 

 wire, which should be tightly whipped with strong thread and var- 

 nished. For more delicate work, or for use in ponds, etc., compara- 

 tively fi'ee from weeds, a large sized test-tube might be substituted 

 for the bottle, and should be fastened to a short, thin length of bam- 

 boo, as follows: Take a six-inch length of caoutchouc tubing, and 

 make a cross-cut three- quarters through, at about an inch fi'om one 

 end; then another at right angles to the first, along the other five 

 inches ; the result is a short piece of tube with a five inch slip of 

 gutta-percha. The tube is slipped over the end of the rod, and the 

 free end of the flap is pushed between the rod and the tubing, the 

 test-tube placed in the loop so fonued, and the slip drawn tight and 

 fastened off. 



Mr. E. H. Griffith suggests Berry's hard oil finish, with 

 Sherwin & Williams' ivory drop black, for finishing slides a la 

 Moeller. 



Chloroform as a Preservative of Urine. — In the D.eutsche 

 Medicin. Woch., Prof. Salkowski states that he has used chloroform 

 to prevent specimens of urine from undergoing decomposition, a few 

 drops being sufficient to retain its acid reaction for any length of 

 time. Prof. Salkowski says, further, that an aqueous solution of 

 chloroform is sufficient to prevent all those fermentations which are 

 dependent upon the existence of micro-organisms, while it has no 

 effect upon the action of unorganized soluble ferments, such as 

 ptyalin and pepsin. Chloroform has a powerful destructive action 

 upon bacteria present. An infusion of putrid meat is made sterile 

 by it in a few hours. It has a like destructive action on the bacius 

 anthracis and on the comma bacillus. — Weekly Medical Review. 



Preparing Sections of Buds. — Take a small piece of twig — 

 say linden — having a bud at its upper end; fix well in section- 

 cutter, wet with alcohol, cut with a sharp knife into thin slices, 

 keep flooding the knife with strong alcohol to keep the sections 

 floating, and to keep them from pulling apart. Do not let a drop 

 of water touch the section, or it will cause it to fall to pieces. Now 

 place in alcohol faintly colored with iodine-green; let them remain 

 for several hours, until the color disappears from the alcohol. 

 Again put them into alcohol, this time colored a little more deeply 

 with eosin in place of green. Let them remain there till they are 



