1900] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 171 



Miscellaneous Notes on Microscopy. 



JOHN. H. COOKE, P. L,. S., F. G. S. 



Preparation of Marine Worms. — With a view to pre- 

 serving the minute blood vessels of Nereis from decom- 

 position, Dr. H. C. Sorby experimented with many re- 

 agents, but rejected all of them in favor of glycerine. His 

 method is, briefly, as follows : — Specimens measuring 

 from two to three inches in length were killed by placing 

 them in strong glycerine diluted with an equal volume of 

 water, and were afterwards immersed in fresh water for 

 ten minutes to eliminate the glycerine. They were then 

 arranged on a microscope slide, and dried very quickly in 

 the open air at the ordinary temperature. A cell built of 

 glass slips was attached to a slide,and the specimens were 

 mounted in balsam and protected by a thin cover-glass in 

 the usual way. Dr. Sorby has specimens that were treat- 

 ed thus two years ago, "and they not only show no signs 

 of change, but the structure of the animal is more clearly 

 defined in the preserved state than it is when the animal 

 is alive or recently dead. 



Micro-photography. — At a demonstration recently 

 given before the Royal Microscopical Society of London, 

 Dr. Spitta exhibited some very fine micro-photographic 

 work which he had done with lenses by Zeiss, Powell, 

 Beck, and Wray. He spoke very highly of the one-eighth 

 apochromatic N. A. ] -40 by Zeiss, which he considers to be 

 "the finest lens in the world" for micro-photography. 



Staining Bones.— Mr. W. Colquhon has been experi- 

 menting with staining processes for the purpose of dif- 

 ferentiating the canaliculi in bone. None of the usual 

 methods gave satisfactory results, for though the nuclei 

 of the bone corpuscles were stained, the outlines of the 

 canaliculi were only faintly shown. Glass tubing was 

 therefore, arranged in lengths of twelve feet on a wall,and 

 a bone with the head sawn off,the medullary cavity clean- 



