292 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [Oct., 



LETPERS TO THE EDITOR. 



Note.— 7'///.« column is open to all correspondents -who -write upon the 

 topics enumerated under " Problems" or -who give other information of 

 interest. The fact that a problem has been ansivertd once need not deter our 

 friends from ma king additional comments. To facilitate reference, corre- 

 spondents should cite the number as -well as the page on -which have ap- 

 peared letters and queries to ivhich reference is made. The editor is not 

 responsible for the viezus of others published in this periodical. 



Strasburger's Botany. — In re" Titles of Microscopical Pub- 

 licatioi s " IV, Journal for June, I call attention to" Hand Book 

 of Practical Botany " by E. Strasburger, edited from the German 

 with additions by W. Hillhouse, M. A. F. L. S., 2nd edition re- 

 vised by author and editor, published in London by Swan Son- 

 nenschein & Co., in N. Y., by Macmillan & Co., 1889. 



The above is far superior in every respect to the translation 

 by Hervey which you list, if I am right in thinking they are 

 translations of the same original. I have the first, and the sec- 

 ond I saw and examined carefully, but I do not now recol- 

 lect the exact title. Hillhouse and Hervey however have both 

 translated the same German work and the former ih decidedly 

 the better. 



Geo. Whitfield Brown, Jr. 



Proboscis of the Blow-fly. — In reply to an enquiry as to 

 the best method of making the well known preparation of the 

 Proboscis of the Blow-fly {Musca vomitoria Linn.) I would not 

 advise any one to make the attempt. Topping had a great suc- 

 cess and made a specialty of this slide, which was one of singu- 

 lar beauty, and a valuable test for the performance of low powers, 

 but it is undoubtedly a great feat to reduce to an almost per- 

 fect plane, an organ so thick and full of muscle, and having a 

 complicated endo- and exo-skeleton of chitine. 



If the attempt is made, the proboscis should be soaked for 

 some time in a solvent, and then most carefully pressed in 

 glycerine. 



For the purpose of stud}^, a very good preparation can be 

 made by allowing the parts to take their own position, and if 

 several preparations are made, all the structural peculiarities 

 and beauties will be well exhibited. 



If chloroform is used as a means of death, the proboscis is 

 is almost invariablv extended. John Michels. 



