The Microscope. 357 



the glorious milky way in the southern sky, in dry soft Summer 

 nights of August and September, in these western lands. 



We must now, however, break away from the thought of 

 this wonderful vision and turn our attention to the partition 

 walls themselves. They are rather thick, from 3 to T/ji across, 

 somewhat irregular and uneven, separating the rays of light. 

 See those rainbow colors ; focus carefully where the broad side 

 plates join the partition walls ; we see narrow breaks in the top 

 of the walls — gateways ; we must investigate this still more 

 carefully, so we will use a one-eighth immersion, and a Bausch & 

 Lomb one-sixth, dry, first-class ; if our cover is thin enough we 

 will find the latter much the best for this woi'k, as it gives the 

 sharpest definition. The breaks we saw in the continuity of the 

 tops of the partition walls are little openings from about 1 to 

 5/jt wide, the floor of which narrows up to a sharp ridge; very 

 likely it is thus on all sides of the opening if we could see it ; 

 this little, ridg}'^ film may be a check valve ; through these open- 

 ings the protoplasmic streams are passing from cell to cell. 

 We enjoy this view under the best possible light of an east win- 

 dow at 11 A. M., the clouds of a morning snow storm having so 

 thinned that the sun almost shines through, and without the 

 Abbe condenser, which is useful by lamp-light, but damaging in 

 such light as we now have. 



Twenty-four hours later we again take up the slide from the 

 damp box. We plainly see the protoplasm as pale, light gray 

 linings of the cell walls ; there is no motion ; the protoplasm is 

 at rest in the sleep of apparent death, but as we shall find, may 

 yet be revived ; we warm the slide to 60°, but reaction does 

 not appear. What we have seen reminds us of the so called 

 surgical shock in man after a severe accident, a period of de- 

 pressed vitality or inactivity of the life forces ; whatever they 

 may be, this is not caused by pain, for in great or sudden 

 accidents pain is not a factor much complained of; it is not a 

 symptom of injury of the great nerve centres, either, but seems 

 simply to be a depression of the life forces on account of the 

 injury to or loss of the continuity of a large part of the organ- 

 ism — a shock to its protoplasm, perhaps. In this study we have 

 at first, after cutting the onion and making the slide, a period 

 of quietude, of stillness, in the protoplasm, resembling shock in 

 the animal organization and a recovery very like the recovery 



