168 THE MICEOSCOPE. 



After the sections aie arranged they can be fastened to the 

 slide by blowing over them ether vapor or by placing a few 

 drops of ether on the slide and allowing it to spread until the 

 collodion is melted. 



After the sections are fastened they can be stained, cleared 

 and mounted in the usual way. 



In order that the sections may be all arranged the same 

 side up, the block of collodion, which should always be trimmed 

 at the top, can be cut with a notch near one corner and the 

 notches all arranged with the same relative position on the slide. 



It will be found that with this method, perfect serial sec- 

 tions of any desired thickness can be obtained from objects 

 which are not more than one layer of cells thick, and thus ren- 

 der the preparation of delicate tissues but little more difficult 

 than that of the firmer kinds found in ordinary stems or roots. 



Wabash College, Octo. 25, 1893. 



Society of American Botanists. — The botanists are at pres- 

 ent much more active in organizing than the zoologists. They 

 were not satisfied with having a Botanical Club in connection 

 with the American Association for Advancement of Science, 

 but they demanded a separate section for botany. They had 

 previously read their papers in the Biological section. Now 

 they are organizing a National society. The Botanical Club at 

 Madison, Wis.. Aug. 23, 1893, appointed a committee of ten 

 which was to select enough other persons to make a nucleus of 

 25. These 25 are to become the charter members of the Nat 

 ional Society. A committee on organization, headed by Prof. 

 Wm. Trelease of St. Louis is preparing a constitution and will 

 report next August when the 25 charter members are expected 

 to gather at the A. A. A. S. It is understood that the member- 

 ship will be limited to persons who have attained considerable 

 prominence in botany. In the list of charter members, we no- 

 tice a good many names of subscribers to the microscopical lit- 

 erature of the day. A cryptogamous botanist must of necessity 

 be a microscopist. 



Pasteur's Fluid is made in the proportion: — 

 Water 4150 parts; cane sugar, 750 parts; ammonium tartrate, 50 parts; 

 potassium phosphate, 10 parts; calcium phosphate, 1 part; magnesium sul- 

 phate, 1 part. 



