164 THE MICROSCOPE. 



turcs and the abscissas their residuals, plus and minus. The 

 result of this labor, which was not inconsiderable, did not en- 

 tirely realize our expectations, though in the scientific examina- 

 tion of any question even negative results are valuable. 



The will of Mr. McDonald was alleged to have been executed 

 in duplicate. A counterpart was originally propounded for pro- 

 bate : the other counterpart was a carbon copy of the first. The 

 signatures to the two counterparts were substantially identical. 

 No cut could disclose this identity as satisfactorily as an inspec- 

 tion of the originals. 



The following conclusions seem warranted by the facts : 



(1) The two signatures of the alleged testator , Joseph E Mc- 

 Donald, and the alleged subscribing witness, Parke Daniels, are 

 so nearly identical as to warrant the conclusion that the will is 

 a forgery. 



(2) The length of the signatures of the same person depends 

 to some extent upon the length of the lines upon which they are 

 written, increasing and decreasing with the same, even when 

 such lines are ample in length for the ordinary signature of the 

 writer. 



(3) No satisfactory conclusion can be predicated as to the 

 length of a signature under ordinary conditions as they occur 

 in practice, unless a large number of genuine signatures is 

 available, and then only when the disputed signature falls con- 

 siderably beyond the limits established by such signatures. 



Kent Law School, Chicago, III. 



AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF HEMATOXYLIN WHICH 

 DOES NOT READILY DETERIORATE. 



By SIMON HENRY GAGE, 



ITHACA, N. Y. 

 [From Proceedings of the American Microscopical Society.] 



For most of the purposes of histology there is a no more satis- 

 factory and generally applicable stain than hematoxylin, and 

 experience has shown that aqueous solutions are on the whole 

 preferable to those containing a considerable quantity of alcohol. 

 Every microscopist knows, however, that aqueous solutions; of 

 hematoxylin soon begin to deposit a dark precipitate on the 



