1885.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



119 



require an hour or more to complete 

 the operation, but in warm weather 

 an hour will usually suffice. 



When the deposit is thick enough 

 it may be protected by a coat of pho- 

 tographers' varnish. The silvered 

 surface may also be polished if de- 

 sired, using fine wash-leather and 

 rouge — but for glass mirrors this is 

 not necessary as the deposit seen 

 through the glass is bright. 



The solution of silver will keep, but 

 after mixing with solution C it rapidly 

 decomposes, the silver being thrown 

 down in the metallic state. 



NOTES. 



— A women's anthropological society, 

 the first of the kind in this country, has 

 just been organized in Washington. The 

 first meeting was held June 8th, Mrs. Col. 

 James Stevenson presiding and Miss S. A. 

 Scull acting as secretary. Officers for the 

 year were elected as follows : President, 

 Mrs. Col. James Stevenson ; recording 

 secretary, Mrs. Romyn Hitchcock ; cor- 

 responding secretary. Miss S. A. Scull ; 

 treasurer, Mrs. John W. Foster. Miss 

 Cleveland, who was mentioned as the first 

 mistress of the White House who had 

 manifested an active interest in scientific 

 pursuits, was requested to name the so- 

 ciety, and did so. There is good talent 

 among the cultured ladies in Washington 

 to conduct such a society in a creditable 

 manner, and we shall hope to see an in- 

 structive and valuable volume of Proceed- 

 ings emanating from it at an early day. 



— The announcement of the next meet- 

 ing of the American Society of Micro- 

 scopists has just been issued. 



The eighth annual meeting of the so- 

 ciety will be held at Cleveland, Ohio, 

 beginning on Tuesday, August i8th, 1885, 

 lasting four days. Members of the society 

 will need little urging to attend, for the 

 steadily growing interest in the meetings 

 for seven years is a sufficient guaranty 

 that they will look forward to this one 

 with eager anticipation. 



Titles and abstracts of papers should 

 be sent as soon as practicable to the sec- 

 retary. Prof. D. S. Kellicott, Ph. D., 119 

 14th street, Buffalo, N. Y. ; and all who 

 intend to be present or to join the society 

 are requested to notify him or the local 

 committee at Cleveland, Ohio. 



The session for illustration of practical 

 work in preparing and mounting objects 

 will be still more varied and instructive 

 than heretofore. Mr. C. M. Vorce, of 

 Cleveland, has charge of the jyeparations 

 for the working session. 



— Dr. R. H. Ward has written a syste- 

 matic treatise on the microscope of the 

 present day as compared with the past, 

 which covers twenty-four large octavo 

 pages in Appleton's Cyclopedia. The 

 article is already printed and will soon be 

 issued in the forthcoming volume. It is 

 fortunate that the publishers entrusted the 

 work to Dr. Ward, who is undoubtedly 

 more competent than any other person in 

 the country to treat the subject. 



— The great Bartholdi statue, the lar- 

 gest in the world, which is to stand in the 

 harbor of New York, will doubtless be 

 landed by the time these lines are printed. 

 An illustration of the statue is given this 

 month in our advertising columns, and 

 the committee having the matter in charge 

 are offering statuettes to all subscribers 

 toward the completion of the pedestal. 

 The London Daily Nezus, in speaking of it 

 says : 'It is out and away the largest statue 

 of modern times. The Colossus of Rhodes 

 was nothing to it. It could carry the 

 "Bravaria" or the " Hermann" in its arms. 

 It towers to the skies from the yard of the 

 Rue de Chazelles, where it has been eight 

 years in construction, and the view from 

 its coronet sweeps clear of the six-story 

 houses and beyond the walls of Paris.' 



— Absolute alcohol, or what for all 

 practical purposes may be regarded as 

 absolute alcohol, is prepared in Ranvier's 

 laboratory by removing the water from 

 95% alcohol by means of anhydrous cu- 

 pric sulphate. Ordinary blue vitriol is 

 pulverized and heated to redness in a 

 crucible. The white powder thus obtained 

 is added to 95% alcohol, and allowed to 

 stand a day or two with occasional shak- 

 ing. The powder takes up the water that 

 is in the alcohol, turning blue as it does 

 so. The alcohol is then poured off, 

 and the operation repeated if necessary, 

 which will only be the case when the 

 copper salt is almost entirely changed to 

 blue. 



^CORRESPONDENCE. 



To THE Editor : — I see in an editorial 

 note which follows my article on the gum 

 of liquidambar styraciflua you state that 

 it can be obtained at any drug-store. Is 



