1886.] 



MrCROSCOPlCAL JOUENAL. 



175 



on the back of the head, secured by 

 a band passing around the forehead. 



San Bias was the next stopping 

 place, but no one was permitted to 

 go ashore. At Mazatlan -we lay for 

 several hours, and thence sailed for 

 San Francisco. 



The sail along the coast is not de- 

 void of interest, although there is not 

 much to be seen. Here and there the 

 land is near enough for clear view ; 

 then it sweeps away until lost in the 

 mist that seems to enshroud it all the 

 time. When the sea is quiet, as it is 

 now, save for the heaving swell that 

 makes our vessel pitch considerably, 

 the beautiful pearly nautilus spreads 

 its sail, as it is figuratively expressed 

 by writers usually, and floats about 

 in full enjoyment of life. How many 

 there must be of them ! All day we 

 have been passing them by scores, 

 half a dozen of their delicate, trans- 

 parent sails in sight at one time, 

 miniature ships of pearl dotting the 

 surface of a boundless ocean. As 

 we sit outside by the captain's cabin- 

 door, penning these lines, the white 

 foam from the bows engulphs many 

 of them with every lurch of the 

 ship. 



The pleasure of this voyage has 

 been greatly enhanced by the genial 

 and social character of Captain 

 Pitts, the commander of the ship, 

 whose kind attentions we shall al- 

 ways remember. 



At night the phosphorescence of 

 the water has been a remarkable 

 sight. The luminous foam spreads 

 out over the dark water as the ship 

 cleaves her way through it, and here 

 and there bright points of light shine 

 out with wonderful brilliance. 



The cause of the brilliant phospho- 

 rescence we were unable to determine. 

 It seems quite impracticable to secure 

 specimens for close examination while 

 the steamer is under way. We endea- 

 vored to collect some specimens, but 

 were not successful, with the appli- 

 ances at hand. The abundance of 

 phosphorescent creatures is astonish- 

 ing. Looking over the side of the 



vessel, a broad line of lambent light 

 marks out the water-line from stem 

 to stern, the foam from the bows is 

 intensely white on a dark clouay 

 night, and every wavelet that breaks 

 around is capped with light. 



The last two days and nights were 

 foggy, and we entered the Golden 

 Gate on Tuesday morning, August 

 3d, with a heavy mist hanging over 

 the harbor, hiding the distant pros- 

 pect from view. 



o 



A Convenient and Inexpensive 

 Microtome for wood sections is de- 

 scribed in the June number of the 

 Journal of the Royal Microscopical 

 Society. It is made of a block of 

 wood two inches square in end sec- 

 tion and four inches long. Across 

 one side of this two cuts are made 

 directed downward toward each other 

 and meeting so as to remove from 

 the block a triangular prism. The 

 space thus left is the ' well ' of the 

 microtome ; the piece to be cut is laid 

 in the well w^ith the end projecting, 

 and the razor moves across it held in 

 place by the side of the block. To 

 jDrotect the side of the block and sup- 

 port the razor a glass slide is cemented 

 on each side of the well in the shape 

 of a letter V. 



For softening wood tissue be- 

 fore cutting, the wood may be im- 

 mersed for several hours in a mixture 

 of equal parts of alcohol and glycer- 

 in kept slightly warm (60° Centi- 

 grade) for several hours. This, with- 

 out injuring the structure, will render 

 it soft and easily cut, and should be 

 especially resorted to when the tissue 

 has be allowed to drv for some time. 



NOTES. 



— We have received some very fine 

 collections of diatoms from Mr. L. M. 

 King, who is offering similar specimens 

 for exchange. This reminds us that we 

 should say, in order to correct any er- 

 roneous impressions that may arise from 

 the occasional absence of our exchange 

 column, the omission is not purposely 



