116 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[June, 



on glass of the Lord's Prayer referred 

 to in your letter was at one time in 

 my possession, and was, I believe, 

 presented by me to the Microscopical 

 Section. It was obtained from Mr. 

 Webb, and he was the same person 

 who exhibited the microscopic writ- 

 i ng machine at the Great Exhibition 

 of 1862. Mr. Webb died about ten 

 or fifteen years ago, but I cannot give 

 th e exact date. I have a very strong 

 impression that Mr. Rideout obtained 

 the machine from him, which was 

 sent by me to the Society. If able 

 to find Mr. Rideout's letter it may 

 confirm this." I have not received 

 the letter, but as what Mr. Dancer 

 says confirms the impression I have 

 of what passed at the time, there can 

 be little doubt that the instrument is 

 the one used to produce the writing 

 referred to. Under the microscope 

 I have arranged two other slides of 

 minute writing which have been lent 

 to me by Mr. Armstrong. These 

 are not very minute when compared 

 with the one first referred to, and 

 which I have placed under the third 

 microscope where you will see the 

 object ^\•ith an eighth object-glass. 

 Even with this great amplification 

 the words can scarcely be read, but 

 it can be seen that only greater power 

 is required to make the whole legible. 

 It happens that the covering glass is 

 very thick, so that powers higher 

 than the eighth cannot be used. It 

 will be noticed that the name, " W. 

 Webb, 1S63," is distinctly legible and 

 very beautifully written. Mr. Arm- 

 strong has given me some particulars 

 of Webb's minute writing, from 

 which it appears that he was ac- 

 customed to write the Lord's Prayer 

 in spaces of the 500th to the 10,- 

 000th of an inch, and, as we have 

 seen, to the 405,000th, and the prices 

 of these slides varied from 2s. 6d. 

 to 70s.' 



Botanical Laboratories. — The 

 ' Laboratorv Number ' of the Botan- 

 ical Gazette, issued last December, 



contains inany good and interesting 

 articles. It is devoted to a descrip- 

 tion, with illustrations, of the botan- 

 ical laboratories of this country and 

 abroad. Prof. J. C. Arthur de- 

 scribes the laboratories in the United 

 States, illustrating his article with 

 artistic representations of laboratories 

 of Harvard, Cornell, the University 

 of Pennsvlvania, and Michio^an Ag-- 

 ricultural College. In this interest- 

 ing article the reader will find a 

 good account of the equipment and 

 arrangement of these and other lab- 

 oratories, which certainly aftbrd am- 

 ple facilities for thorough work in 

 vegetable histology. The author's 

 allusion to some remarks in these 

 columns does not quite touch the 

 point at issue, for we did not refer to 

 the facilities for work but to the work 

 actuallv done, and surelv in this can- 

 not be considered the routine work of 

 vmdergraduates in college. We trust 

 the opportunities presented by our 

 laboratories will not be neglected by 

 botanists. 



In the same journal Mr. J. M. Coul- 

 ter describes some laboratory appli- 

 ances, and in another article gives 

 an account of courses of instruction. 

 The laboratory of Strassburg is de- 

 scribed. Under General Notes are 

 given some useful suggestions, from 

 \vhich we have selected a few items 

 of interest to microscopists. 



Prof. Burrill savs good sections of 

 potato showing the starch grains in 

 the cells can be made by cutting out 

 a prism about a quarter or half an 

 inch in diameter and an inch long 

 and drying it slightly on the outside 

 before cutting. 



Prof. Trelease describes the usual 

 method of cultivating the common 

 Miicor on stale bread imder an in- 

 verted tumbler. 



Mr. Coulter alludes to the cultiva- 

 tion of pollen-spores, recommending 

 those of Tradescantia. in which the 

 pollen-tube begins to develop in a 

 few minutes. The culture fluid ad- 

 vised is a saturated solution of cane 

 sugar. Spores should be collected 



