1885.] 



MICKOSOOPICAL JOUKNAL. 



147 



record of his work is valuable not 

 only for its perfected methods, but as 

 an example of indomitable will and 

 patience in imestigation. 



During the present season he has 

 cleaned a considerable quantity of 

 npw material, and has generously ar- 

 ranged to put it in the hands of Mr. 

 Vorce to add to the interest of the 

 ' working session ' of the American 

 Society of Microscopists at the Cleye- 

 land meeting, and to supply members 

 with samples. 



Cleaning Marine Muds. 



BY DR. GEO. H. TAYLOR. 



Let US suppose the material comes 

 to us from anchors of vessels in hard, 

 dry lumps. The first step is to dis- 

 integrate these lumps in water. My 

 method is to place a lump in a bucket 

 or large basin of water, and let it re- 

 main for several days, until it is soft 

 enough to break up with the fingers. 

 I then place the material in a dish, 

 fill with water, and thoroughly stir 

 the whole, then allow it to settle for 

 fifteen minutes, and pour oft' the top. 

 I repeat this until the top water be- 

 comes clear. If this is thoroughly 

 done it will consume the best part of 

 a week. The next step is to place 

 the w^hole mass in a shallow dish or 

 pan, fill it with water, stir the mass 

 up thoroughly, and pour oft' the top 

 into another vessel, repeating this 

 process until nothing remains but the 

 sand and mollusc shells. This is 

 thrown away and the material poured 

 back again into the shallow dish and 

 ' sanded' as before. This process is 

 repeated until there is no longer a de- 

 posit of sand, then place the material 

 in an evaporating dish, cover with 

 water, and with a movement of the arm 

 in a circle revolve the dish gently, 

 when the sand will ball up in the centre 

 of the dish. Pour oft' the top, and throw 

 away the sand. Repeat this opera- 

 tion until satisfied ail the heavy sand 

 has been removed. The material is 

 now ready for the acid, but before 

 applying acid it must be dried. To 



obtain the bestresults, the best method 

 is to let the water evaporate in the sun. 



When the evaporation has taken 

 place, transfer the material to a por- 

 celain dish, pour nitric acid in with 

 a free hand, and boil thoroughly, 

 until all fuming has ceased ; allow to 

 cool, and wash thoroughly ; again 

 dry, and cover thoroughly with sul- 

 phuric acid, and boil until the finnes 

 cease, then throw in pulverized bi- 

 chromate of potash, little at a time, 

 until the color changes ; boil in sul- 

 phuric acid about ten minutes. Allow 

 the material to cool thoroughly and 

 pour into a large vessel of pure water, 

 allowing it to settle thoroughly before 

 drawing oft' the top water — about ten 

 or fifteen minutes ; i^epeat this wash- 

 ing until all traces of the acid are re- 

 moved ; when this is accomplished, 

 the former process of sanding must 

 be repeated. Keep this up until sat- 

 isfied nothing more can be done in 

 this way. The next step is to place 

 the material in the porcelain boiling 

 dish, add water until the dish is about 

 two-thirds full, place over the fire, 

 and, just before the boiling point is 

 reached, throw in a stick of caustic 

 potash about half an inch long, and 

 let it boil thoroughly for four or five 

 minutes, stirring from time to time. 

 Pour this while hot into a large glass 

 vessel, and let it settle for about one 

 or two minutes — the appearance will 

 determine the length of time neces- 

 sary ; draw oft' the top portion care- 

 fully and throw it away ; the re- 

 mainder must now be placed in a 

 small bottle filled two-thirds with 

 water, cork the bottle tightly, and 

 shake vigorously, allow to settle ten 

 minutes, then draw oft' the water ; con- 

 tinue this process two days ; then 

 sand again by the rotary movement in 

 the evaporating dish. 



There must now be procured from 

 a photographer two of the glasses used 

 by them for embossed pictures, one 

 large and one small, also from any 

 drug-store one or two drop-tubes, 

 with rubber bulbs. Now pour a lit- 

 tle of the material upon the large* 



