1896.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 319 



and place in 95 per cent of alcohol, after which they may 

 be dried with a linen handkerchief which is well worn, but 

 perfectly clean, or an old silk handkerchief answers the 

 purpose well. Slides should be kept in a dust proof recep- 

 tacle and cover g-lasses should be treated the same as slips. 



Immediately after placing- small drop of blood on slip, 

 which is held in the left hand with your rig-ht hand, bring- 

 the edg^e of another slip in contact rather g-ently, but firm 

 enoug-h to spread the fresh blood thin enoug-h so each indi- 

 vidual capusle can be seen distinctly. With a little prac- 

 tice this can be very nicely done from the time of transfer 

 of blood to slide, and spreading- should be quite short, as 

 evaporation rather interferes with the process. 



Fix the specimen with a solution composed of absolute 

 alcohol one ounce; ether three ounces. Do not rinse, but 

 stain with 1 per cent eosine in 60 per cent, alcohol for fifty 

 seconds to one minute. Wash g-ently with clean water 

 and dry with, or rather between, bibulous paper. If you 

 care to counter-stain, Loeffler's alkaline methyl blue will 

 serve the purpose, or any of the aniline dyes will do, but 

 not so clearly stain. The specimen should be now g-ently 

 washed, dried and examined in water. If worthy of pre- 

 servation dehydrate with alcohol, then dry as before and 

 mount in balsam. 



The Plasmodia will be stained blue if Loeffler's alkaline 

 methyl blue is used, and the pig-ment will appear as rather 

 a brown, while the red blood corpuscle itself appears quite 

 red. 



The only required apparatus is an ordinary microscope 

 with a 1-12 immersion lens, or, in case you have a low- 

 power objective, very satisfactory results may be obtained 

 by using- a hig-h eye piece. I use a No. 3 and 4 eye piece, 

 with Yi inch objective and an Abbe condenser. — Langsdale's 

 Lancet. 



Serum Injection in Acute Rheumatism. — Weiss {Cen- 

 tral, f. inn. Med.) observes that it has been proved that 

 blood serum taken from individuals convalescent from a 

 disease is able to protect animals ag-ainst the infection in 



