THE AMERICAN 



MONTHLY 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



Vol. XVIII. AUGUST, 1897. No. 8 



Some Collecting Apparatus. 



By Dr. E. v. DADAY, 

 budapest, hungary. 



WITH FRONTISPIECE. 



If we take some water in a clean glass vessel from the 

 body of a lake and examine it attentively, holding it 

 towards the light, we shall find in most cases that there 

 are in the water, although ap[)arently quite clear, small 

 bodies and living beings of molecular minuteness swim- 

 ming aljou,t, eacli in its own way. There was a time, not 

 very remote, when students of the microscopic world 

 contented themselves with examining each drop of the 

 water drawn from a hike, with a magnifying glass in 

 order to find the small animals in it. By such a proceed- 

 ing we are in most cases hd't to chance. It is mere luck 

 if we find something in the water. The naturalist desir- 

 ous of .getting thorouglily acquainted witli the micro- 

 scopic fauna of a lake cannot s^top at this point, but ought 

 to recur to sucli expedients as will assure him of the 

 absolute perfectness and success of his researches. He 

 must provide himself with suitable implements and they 

 are numerous. He must at the same time provide him- 

 self with the means of conservation. For collecting 

 specimens of water-fauna, we make use of a net. Con- 

 sidering the extreme minuteness of those beings we have 



