240 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [December, 1883. 



rangement of Figs. 27 b and 41 ? The 

 former represents Salpitigceca acitminata^ 

 the latter Monosiga IVoodicE. 



Dr. a. C. Stokes. 

 Trentox, N. J. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. 



We have an entertaining account ot an 

 exhibition given some time ago by the 

 Microscopical Society organized in Ches- 

 ter, Pa., about 18 months ago. The So- 

 ciety is active and strong, as we learn 

 from a letter from the President. Mr. 

 Thomas Moore, and we hope to receive 

 regular reports of its meetings in future. 

 At the Microscopical Exhibition of the 

 Philadelphia Academy, the Chester society 

 was credited with the best suburban ex- 

 hibit. 



At the annual meeting of the Balti- 

 more Microscopical Society, held Satur- 

 day evening, Oct. 20th, the following 

 officers were elected: — President, Dr. L. 

 M. Eastman ; Vice-President, Dr. Edward 

 Schaeffer; Secretary, Geo. L. Smith; 

 Treasurer, F. W. McAllister; Librarian, 

 Prof. Otto Lugger. The regular meeting 

 was held November 3d, with a full attend- 

 ance. Mr. Geo. L. Lmith read the paper 

 of the evening, his subject being Spiders. 

 After showing the relationship of the 

 arachnida to the rest of the animal king- 

 dom the writer gave a very intelligible 

 description of the anatomy and physiology 

 of spiders. In speaking of the popular 

 dread of the bite of a spider, several au- 

 thorities were cited to prove that theie is 

 no known spider whose bite is fatal, and 

 that the demonstrations following the bite 

 of the Tarantula are not the direct result 

 of any poison, but nervous depression or 

 ecstasy. 



In his description of the spinning of the 

 web, he spoke of the hundreds of minute 

 openings in each spinner, each open- 

 ing exuding a gluey substance forming an 

 infinitesimal thread, and hundreds of 

 these together forming the thread as we 

 see it. The spider must either secrete 

 two kinds of glue or have the power of 

 modifying the secretion, as proved by the 

 fact of part of the web being dry and part 

 covered with little globules of adhesive 

 material. The paper ended with an inter- 

 esting account of the habits of different 

 kinds of spiders' and the peculiarities of 

 different webs. The subject was made 

 very clear by the aid of several well-drawn 



diagrams and a number of microscopical 

 slides. 



The section on mounting made a re- 

 port through Mr. A. H. Ehrman, in which 

 he described a method of making cells for 

 both transparent and opaque objects, 

 either dry or fluid. The material he uses 

 is the common brass curtain-ring, which 

 being hollow can be flattened down to 

 make a very shallow cell. The rings are 

 cemented to the glass, one above the 

 other, to any desired height, by means of 

 asphalt'or cement. The top ring had better 

 be smaller than the others as it increases 

 the strength and improves the appearance 

 of the cell. The asphalt is suitable for 

 dry mounts only. For fluid mounts Mr. 

 Ehrman found alcohol shellac to give the 

 greatest satisfaction as a cement. 



The introductory meeting of the Cen- 

 tral New York Microscopical Club, 

 for the season of 1883-84, was held in 

 Syracuse, N. Y., Monday evening, Sep- 

 tember 24th, A. Clifford Mercer, M.D., 

 President, in the chair. 



The Club begins its third year in a 

 more flourishing condition than ever be- 

 fore. It has an active membership of 

 forty-two, and applications for membership 

 are constantly being received. The trea- 

 sury is full, and a scientific library has 

 been started. With an increasing mem- 

 bership, the requirements of such a large 

 body of workers, seem to demand larger 

 rooms, and the matter is being favorably 

 considered. The Club having been 

 granted Articles .of Incorporation last 

 May, the principal business of this meet- 

 ing' was the report of the Committee on 

 Revision of the Constitution and by-laws, 

 to meet the needs of the Club in its new 

 capacity as an incorporate body. 



It is proposed to have "Working Eve- 

 nings " this season, devoting less time to 

 general discussions and more to practical 

 work in mounting, section cutting, stain- 

 ing and the manipulation of instruments, 

 in order that every member may become 

 perfectly familiar with the methods of 

 practical microscopy. After general busi- 

 ness, the Club adjourned and Mr. Geo. 

 K. Collins exhibited to the members some 

 very beautiful mounts, the work of Mr. 

 Freestone, of Oswego. The slides ex- 

 hibited were mounts of Volvox and seeds 

 of plants. Mr. Freestone works with 

 instruments of his own make, and mounts 

 his specimens on slides of his own cutting. 

 The slides of Volvox elicited much ad- 

 admiration, as the specimen had been 

 mounted in its natural state. 



