152 Miscellaneous. 



myself as to the purely physico-chemical interpretation of most of 

 the phenomena of vegetable life. — Silliman's Journal for Nov. 1862. 

 Washington, D. C, September, 1862. 



Application of Magenta Bye in Microscopical Investigations. 



At a recent meeting of the Microscopical Section of the Literary 

 and Philosophical Society of Manchester, Dr. Roberts called atten- 

 tion to the aid that might be received in the examination of the struc- 

 ture of animal and vegetable tissue by the use of colouring materials. 

 Magenta is peculiarly adapted for this purpose, in consecpience of its 

 solubility in simple water and its inert, chemical character. The 

 nuclear structures of animal cells are deeply ^tinted by magenta ; and 

 by its use the nuclei of the pale blood-corpuscles, of pus-globules, of 

 the renal and hepatic cells, and of all epithelial structures are brought 

 out in great beauty, tinted of a bright carbuncle-red. The red 

 blood-disks are tinted of a faint rose-colour, and a darker red speck, 

 not hitherto noticed, is to be observed on the periphery of the cor- 

 puscle ; it undergoes some changes when treated with tannin and sub- 

 sequently with caustic potash, but this point is still under investigation. 



On a new Phyllodactylus from Guayaquil. By W. Peters. 



Phyllodactylus Reissii, n. sp. 



P. tuberculorum dorsalium seriebus quatuordecim, granulis occipitis 

 minoribus quam sincipitis, scutello infralabiali primo mentali paulo 

 minore ; griseus, transversim nigro maculatus. 



This species approaches very closely to Phyllodactylus tubercu- 

 losus of AViegmann, from California, but differs from it in that, 1 . the 

 tubercles of the back, which are also triangular and keeled, stand in 

 regular, not alternating, series ; the interspace between these longi- 

 tudinal series in the middle of the body is always greater than the 

 tubercles themselves : 2. the occipital region does not, as in that 

 species, exhibit roundish granules, larger than those upon the snout 

 and between the eyes, but is covered by very small granules of uni- 

 form size : and, 3. the mentale lies almost entirely between the first 

 dilated pair of infralabialia, whilst in both specimens of P. tubercu- 

 losa the first infralabiale is not broader than the following one, and 

 two large, roundish, polygonal submentalia bound the posterior half 

 of the mentale. In this new species, behind the mentale and be- 

 tween the first pair of infralabialia, there is a pair of small roundish 

 scales, followed by a third small, median, round scale. In colour the 

 two species appear to agree. The colour is grey, with irregular 

 black spots, which, in a young specimen, form bowed transverse 

 bands on the neck, and broad half-rings on the tail. 



This species was discovered in the vicinity of Guayaquil, by the 

 Prussian Consul, M. Carl Reiss, who has collected other remarkable 

 reptiles in that locality. It is known by the Spanish name of 

 " Salatnanquesa." — Monatsber. der Akad. der Wiss. su Berlin, 

 November 1862. 



