46 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [February, 



RECREATIVE MICROSCOPY. 



e 



Brownian Movement. — This remarkable phenomenon of inor- 

 o^anic matter, (bscovered by Robert Brown in 1837, wherein particles 

 surely not alive and having a diameter of less than ^^Vo ^^ ^" inch move 

 as if possessed of life has been shown by C. F. Fox, of New York, as 

 follows : 



•• In 1S74 I rubbed up in water a little gamboge, which I confined in 

 a hermetically-sealed cell, and which, for more than fourteen years (as 

 long as the cell remained intact), was brought out periodically to illus- 

 trate the tact that " things are not what they seem." Numerous other 

 illustrations of this uncertainty of appearances might be drawn from 

 things in sight and above sight, as well as beneath sight ; and it is well 

 to remember in this connection that, broadly considered, motion is an 

 attribute of every form and condition of matter, great or small, simpl 

 or combined, inorganic or organized." 



Carmine, indigo, and many finely-produced metals will answer as 

 well. This movement is oscillatory and can be distinguished by the 

 expert microscopist from vital motion. Through this movement we 

 may perhaps some day come to the origin of life, or of vital motion. 



Diatom Material.— We have some diatom material which will 

 make beautiful slides for exhibition. We will send a small amount to 

 any subscribers who will mount it and return to us a sample slide. 

 When we have received a number of such slides w^e will report on their 

 comparative merits. 



The Sugar Insect. — A microscopic insect, Acaj'us saccharic is 

 often found in raw or unrefined sugar, a recent examination showing 69 

 out of 73 samples infected, and showing 500 individuals in 10 grains of 

 sugar of one sample. Refined sugar does not contain them. If eaten 

 they do not harm, but if raw sugar is handled the mites work their way 

 under the skin, producing "grocer's itch." Refiners are especially 

 liable and should always examine sugar microscopically for this insect. 

 A single female can produce a million offspring in three months. The 

 treatment for grocer's itch is sulphur, or better, an alcoholic solution 

 of beta naphthol. As very little unrefined sugar is now sold the prac- 

 tical danger to the people is small, but children, who are too prone 

 to call for sugar, might well be treated to a sight of some infected brown 

 sugar under the microscope. 



« 



MICROSCOPICAL NEWS. 



Adulterated Bread. — In the famine-stricken regions of Russia the 

 government has distributed some bread which the contractors had 

 badly adulterated. A specimen was sent from — not the worst, but the 

 best — bread so distributed to England, where a microscopical examina- 

 tion revealed fragments of plant leaves, husks and small seeds resem- 

 bling rape, as well as mineral particles. In the rye bread as much as 

 10 per cent, was found to consist of indigestible leaves and woody 

 fibre. Coarse particles could be seen with an ordinary lens. Six per 

 cent, was found to consist of mineral matter including silica and sand. 



A Russian, speaking of some of the worst samples, says: " I found 



