1900] MICROSCOPICAL JOUHjnAL. 183 



that I had sent him, that he had taken great pains in its 

 cleaning, and therefore his labor was futile. In order to 

 show the rigorousness of his search he averred that he 

 had used a lens in the search that would resolve A. pellu- 

 cida. 



His adverse report did not shake my faith in what I 

 knew I was absolutely certain of. So to convince him 

 that the material was all right, I prepared three simple 

 "proof slides," in this manner; the dry material was soft- 

 ened to a liquid mud, and spread for a space equal tooDe- 

 half the length of the slide, then dried over a flame. This 

 method did not require a cover-glass, merely a plain slip. 

 The three slides of this character, examined by condensed 

 light and a half-inch objective, would have shown anybody 

 all that I claimed from my preliminary study in the 

 rough. This proof-set of slides had reached his hands* 

 but were sureptitiously removed from his residence be- 

 fore he could examine them. He advised me of this, and 

 I prepared three more "proof slides" of the same charac- 

 ter. At the same time I made a suggestion so that he 

 could follow my method of manipulation. Mr. Peticolas 

 received the last batch of "proof slides" and then became 

 convinced that there was no possible error discoverable in 

 my new find. 



With the remnant of the initial specimen that I sent 

 him he determined the novelty and beauty of the new 

 find, charmed with his own results in its preparation. He 

 sent me a letter acknowledging the benefit of my tutelage, 

 to an expert of many years standing. The interesting 

 character of the new find as elaborated by himself, led 

 him to say that if possible, he would like a larger quanti- 

 ty of material to study out its possibilities. So I forward- 

 ed to him every remaining particle of the cocoanut mate- 

 rial. Shortly after its receipt, he returned, prepared out 

 of the material, five slides marked Nos. 1 to 5, of what he 

 designated as the "Cocoanut series, Mobile Bay," and sug- 



