1883.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



97 



granules are apparent in their poste- 

 rior thickened extremities (Characea?, 

 e. g.)- 



The antherozoicis of the Equiseta- 

 ces are larger than those of any other 

 class of Cryptogams. Vegetable 

 spermatozoids show, in a manner sim- 

 ilar to those belonging to the animal 

 kingdom, a gradual transition from 

 the freely motile filiform cells — the 

 archetypes of ciliary motion — to those 

 which it would be difficult to distin- 

 guish from isolated epithelial cells of 

 animals. From their mode of develop- 

 ment (e. g. Isoetes), we have seen that 

 the cilia are the essential portions, 

 and that the presence of a cell body 

 is a secondary affair, being a subse- 

 quent process of differentiation. 

 From this we would infer that there 

 must exist in the cilium the power 

 of originating its own motion ; it is 

 self-innervating. The mechanism of 

 its movements is identical in principle 

 with that of muscular movement, while 

 the proceedings which stimulate these 

 movements are identical in principle 

 with nerve incitation. 



( To be continued. ) 



EDITORIAL. 



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 should be addressed to the publishers, S. E. Cassino 

 & Co., 41 Arch Street, Boston, Mass. 



Contributions', exchanges, and letters pertaining 

 to the editorial management, should be addressed to 

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 Subscriptions begin with the January number, unless 

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 Boston. 



A New Binocular. — Mr. Edward 

 Bausch has devised a modified form 

 of the Wenham binocular, and 

 adapted it to the Bausch & Lomb 

 stands, one of which we have recently 

 examined. Instead of mounting the 

 prism in a metal frame which can be 

 moved in and out, as in the ordinary 

 form of binocular, the prism is ce- 



mented to a glass disk which is fixed in 

 a special nose-piece. The nose-piece 

 can be readily attached to the micro- 

 scope by a spring-catch. 



In this way the prism is always 

 secured in exactly the right place, 

 and when a plain nose-piece is substi- 

 tuted, as when high-power objectives 

 are used, there is nothing in the tube 

 to reduce the angular aperture of the 

 lens. The arrangement is less con- 

 venient than the ordinary plan, but if 

 the advantages claimed for it are found 

 not to be of sufficient practical im- 

 portance to lead to its final adop- 

 tion, there is no reason why the prism 

 should not be mounted in the old 

 way. We do not yet appreciate the 

 advantages of the separate nose- 

 pieces, and we understand that the 

 makers desire to have the verdict of 

 microscopists concerning this matter, 

 before they adopt the plan. 



The prism is a very large one, 

 and as the face which receives the 

 rays is fully exposed it will transmit 

 a larger angle of aperture than the 

 Wenham prism, which is much smaller. 

 It is well-known that the mounting 

 of the Wenham prism cuts down the 

 angular aperture of some objectives. 

 A large prism, however, gives a cor- 

 respondingly large pencil of rays, and 

 in the instrument we examined there 

 was a glare of light in the left ocular 

 which led some who used it to think 

 there was a defect in the fitting of 

 the prism. On covering the right- 

 hand half of the eye-lens of the 

 left ocular, the glare was entirely 

 stopped out, and the binocular effect 

 was perfect. 



Mr. Bausch has promised us a 

 description of the apparatus, which we 

 will soon publish, as we prefer to 

 leave a detailed statement of the 

 special advantages of his binocular 

 in his own hands. 



Hints TO Manufacturers. — Judg- 

 ing from various indications, the 

 question will soon force itself upon the 

 manufacturers of microscope stands 



