1888.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 217 



Easy method of printing from negatives. — A curious experiment, which any one may 

 try, has recently been described by Mr. J. W. Osborne, of Washington, D. C. The key 

 to it is in the fact so often observed by every one that newspapers, being long exposed 

 to light, turn brown. Take a stencil, or any perforated sheet of metal, place beneath 

 it such paper as some newspapers are printed on, and on both sides put pieces of glass. 

 Expose it to the sun's rays 48 to 60 hours. A print that can be easily seen will be found 

 upon the exposed part of the paper. For paper, substitute a freshly-planed surface 

 of white pine ; the print will be very legible upon sufficient exposure. Passing a hot 

 iron over the surface, after printing, serves to bring out the characters more plainly. 

 Tinfoil is a very good substance to use for making perforations of the shape one desires 

 to reproduce by this printing process. 



Sticky postage stamps. — During a recent week of continuously damp weather a sub- 

 scription agent sent a letter containing 90 cents in stamps that, upon receipt, were so 

 stuck together as to render their acceptance undesirable. If stamps are folded between 

 slips of tinfoil they may be sent with perfect safety in damp weather, may be carried in 

 vest pockets, and even immersed in water, without injury. A clerk in the Patent Office 

 washes the gum off his stamps as soon as he buys a lot, carries them in his pocket with 

 impunity, and mucilages them as fast as he wants to use them. The tinfoil that tobacco 

 chewers throw away will obviate all this trouble. 



Hay Fever. — Dr. Morell Mackenzie, in his monograph on this complaint and its 

 treatment, says, that among races, the English and American ; among classes, the up- 

 per and cultivated ; and of the sexes, the males are especially susceptible to hay fever. 

 In the north of Europe it is almost unknown. It is rare in France, Germany, Italy, 

 and Spain ; whereas in England it is frequent, and in America prevalent. Again, 99 

 per cent, of its martyrs are of the upper class, while agricultural laborers, who are 

 most exposed to the causes of the complaint, are least subject to its attacks. Lastly, 

 the male sex is more liable to it than the female, in the ratio of three to one. He gives 

 its cause — ' the entrance into the eyes and air-channels of those predisposed to the 

 ailment of minute particles of vegetable matter from grasses and plants in flower ' — 

 and its cure, chiefly cocaine in one form or another. 



QUERIES. 



O. I. How can dissections of butterflies, crickets, and other common insects be pre- 

 served until wanted for mounting ? — F. 



A. Perhaps there is no better way to effect this than to place the specimen in a glass 

 vial containing a mixture of equal parts of 95% alcohol and glycerine. 



O. 2. What are the details in mounting them permanently, and in what are they best 

 mounted ? For illustration, a butterfly's tongue and a cricket's gizzard. — F. 



A. In mounting a butterfly's tongue, treat the specimen, after dissection, in a covered 

 watch-glass, with absolute alcohol, then with turpentine, and, finally, with benzole bal- 

 sam. The gizzard better be cut open lengthwise in order to display the teeth, and then 

 be mounted directly in glycerine jelly. The balsam will make the teeth nearly invisible. 



N. B. — These answers are not the result of any experiment on our part, and perhaps 

 some correspondent can suggest better methods. — O. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. 



Essex County, N. J. — F. Vanderpoel, Secy. 



September 28. — The annual meeting was held at the residence of Rev. F. B. Carter, 

 Montclair. After the adoption of the Treasurer's report, which showed the finances to 

 be in a satisfactory condition, the following officers were elected : — 



President, Morgan W. Ayres, M. D.; Secretary, Frank Vanderpoel ; Treasurer, J. S. 

 Brown, M. D.; Executive Committee, Rev. F. B. Carter, Dr. Geo. S. Allan, Mr. J. L. 

 Smith. 



A vote of thanks was accorded the retiring President, Dr. Allan, for the faithful per- 

 formance of his duties during the year. The members may honestly congratulate 



