1883] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



19 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. 



At a recent meeting of the Camden 

 Society, Mr. J. L. De La Cour read an 

 exceedingly interesting paper upon 

 " Sporendonema ; or, the Fungus which is 

 Now so Prevalent Among House-flies." 

 It is a common occurrence in autumn, he 

 said, to find the house-fly dead, adhering 

 to the wall or window-panes, firmly fixed 

 by its tongue, with legs spread out. In 

 about twenty-four hours after death a 

 fleshy, white substance is found in the 

 form of a ring projecting out between 

 each section of the abdomen. This is 

 caused by the presence of a minute fun- 

 gus, Einpusa iintsci, and in its fully de- 

 veloped condition the spore-bearing fila- 

 ments of the plant stand out from the 

 body of the fly like a pile of velvet, and 

 the spores thrown off from these in all 

 directions form a white circle around it as 

 it rests on the glass. The filaments 

 which show themselves are merely the 

 fructification of the fungus, the plant it- 

 self being within the body. It originates 

 in minute corpuscles, which find their 

 way into the circulation from without, 

 either by the deposit of a spore on some 

 part of the body, penetrating through the 

 rings or spiraels, and when once estab- 

 lished gives rise to mycelial structure, de- 

 veloping subsequently into ripe spores. 



Dr. Brown made some interesting re- 

 marks upon the subject of artificial food 

 for infants, and exhibited specimens 

 showing that they were really deficient 

 in those elements most essential. 



Mr. Morrison exhibited specimens of 

 pure ground ginger, and also specimens 

 of adulterated ginger. Mr. Bowden ex- 

 hibited specimens of pepper, and Mr. 

 Derousse a specimen of material used for 

 adulterating black pepper. Remarks 

 upon these objects were made by several 

 of the members. 



A meeting of the Camden Society was 

 held December 7th, Dr. A. P. Brown in 

 the chair. Mr. Brown called the atten- 

 tion of the members to the important 

 fact that nearly all kinds of bitter drugs, 

 such as nux vomica, chamomile, etc., 

 have lately greatly advanced in price, 

 owing to the large purchases made by 

 brewers, who use them in the manufac- 

 ture of beer in the place of hops, of which 

 the crop this year was a failure. 



Mr. A. P. Brown then gave an instruc- 

 tive lecture on section cutting, straining. 



and the mounting of different kinds of 

 woods, showing that many vegetables can 

 be softened and thoroughly preserved in 

 a mixture of alcohol, water, and glycerine. 

 Some woods need boiling in water and 

 then placed in the above mixture. To 

 cut the sections, several inventions were 

 shown, but it was decided that a razor, 

 ground flat on one side, was as good as 

 any of them. After the sections are cut 

 they should be placed in alcohol, to pre- 

 vent shrinking, and for bleaching the 

 same a labarraques solution should be 

 used. 



Mr. L. T. Derousse called the attention 

 of the members to an insect called the 

 "Weaver," which, although so small it 

 could hardly be seen by the naked eye, 

 was a most destructive insect. The gen- 

 tleman had some Indian corn which had 

 been bottled up for over a year, and every 

 grain had been so catacombed by these 

 insects that nothing but the shell re- 

 mained. 



When placed under a microscope, the 

 weaver looked about the size of a lobster, 

 and not unlike it, only that it appeared 

 covered with tiny silver spots. 



The society are now in possession of 

 Cole's " slides and studies," and after a 

 long controversy, it was decided that they 

 should be divided into four parts of thir- 

 teen each, and that members should be 

 allowed the privilege of taking them to 

 their homes, but they should be at the 

 societ)' room on each meeting-night. 



The second annual soiree of the Fort 

 Wayne Academy of Science and Micro- 

 scopy, was held on the evening of Nov. 

 30th. The President, Dr. C. R. Dryer, 

 delivered the inaugural address, entitled, 

 " The Materials of Life," and a fine col- 

 lection of objects was exhibited. 



NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



How to make Pictures. Easy Lessons 

 for the Amateur Photographer. By 

 Henry Clay Price. Second edition. 

 New York: Scovill Manufacturing Co. 

 (pp. 72. Price 50 cents.) 



The second edition of this very useful 

 work was called forth in about two months 

 after the first edition was published, which 

 is good evidence of its popularity and 

 value. A short chapter has been added 

 on photography with the microscope. 



