18 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[January, 



cells. By revolving the disc the cells are 

 brought successively under the objective. 



— We call attention to the appearance 

 of AmoebcE in an infusion of egg, which 

 is mentioned in the report of the Welles- 

 ley Col.ege Microscopical Society. Pos- 

 sibly this may prove to be a very conve- 

 nient way of obtaining Amoebae when 

 they are wanted. Our own experience 

 has usually been that it is unsafe to pro- 

 mise them for exhibition at a g^ven time, 

 for they are very likely to disappear just 

 before they are required. 



— Dr. Abbe recommends the use of 

 naphthaline monobromide as a medium 

 for the mounting of diatoms. The index 

 of refraction of this medium is 1.658 and 

 the diatoms would, according to Mr. Ste- 

 phenson's view (see this Journal, Vol. I, 

 page 1 59) be more visible in it than in Ca- 

 nada-balsam in the proportion of 22 to 11. 



— Dr. Leidy, in the Proc. Acad. Nat. 

 Set. of Philadelphia, describes a number 

 of Rhizopods from the top of Roan Moun- 

 tain, N. C, where these organisms abound. 

 About twenty-five species were observed. 



— Those who are interested in the Gre- 

 garinse, would do well to read a short 

 preliminary article by Dr. B. Gabriel, 

 published in Zoologischer Anzeiger, III, 

 No. 69, upon the classification of those 

 parasitic Protozoa. The author criticizes 

 the present classification, and proposes a 

 new one based upon totally different prin- 

 ciples, which seems deserving of careful 

 consideration. 



— At the meeting of the New York 

 Microscopical Society, held on January 

 7th, the following ofificers were elected 

 for 1881. President, R. Hitchcock ; Vice- 

 President, E. C. Bogert; Rec.-Secretary, 

 W. H. Mead ; Cor.-Secretary, Benj. Bra- 

 man ; Treasurer, W. C. Hubbard ; Libra- 

 rian and Curator, Dr. F. M. Deems ; Au- 

 ditors : C. S. Shultz, James Warnock, Dr. 

 David Benson. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES 



NEW YORK. 



The Fall and Winter sessions of 1880- 

 1881 commenced with the regular meeting 

 of September 18th, at which there was an 

 unusually full attendance of members, 

 many of whom had gathered and studied 

 many objects of interest during the Sum- 

 mer vacation. Several visitors, interested 



in microscopical science, were present, 

 among them Dr. Bates, of Brooklyn, who 

 explained a method of preparing, staining 

 and mounting seeds and pollen grains, a 

 variety of which he exhibited. Mr. Hyatt 

 showed a number of sHdes of diatoms, 

 mainly Pleurosigmas. Some of his col- 

 lections consisted exclusively of single 

 kinds, as of the s^ecits form osu7n for ex- 

 ample. They came from Harlem River, 

 and he described their manner of growth 

 and multiplication under the influences of 

 wind and tide. One point of interest was 

 the statement, that at certain tides, under 

 certain conditions, these interesting objects 

 could be obtained absolutely free from 

 dirt. Professor W. H. Seaman, of Wash- 

 ington, gave the Society the results of his 

 long experience in the use of gelatin as 

 a mounting medium. He described the 

 manner of preparing and applying it, and 

 spoke very highly of its qualities for 

 mounting purposes. The President spoke 

 of Carbolic Acid for mounting, stating 

 that insects could be thrown alive into the 

 acid, in the field for instance, and thence 

 transferred to balsam with no further 

 trouble than a hasty draining on blotting 

 paper, to get rid of the superfluous acid. 

 Slides so prepared were displayed. 



The meeting of October 1st was devoted 

 to the subject of Animal Hairs, of which 

 a great variety were exhibited, illustrating 

 the discussion which took place between 

 the President and Messrs Cox, Hyatt, 

 Schoney, Shultz, and others. 



On October 15th, Vegetable Hairs formed 

 the topic of discussion, and Mr. C. F. Cox 

 read the paper of the evening, which 

 treated of the physiology and morphology 

 of Vegetable Hairs. It was illustrated by 

 slides from his cabinet. Other members 

 displayed mounts of vegetable hairs, some 

 of rare kinds. 



At the meeting of November 5th, 

 Doctor Schoney was the speaker, the 

 subject being. Blood. The results of the 

 latest investigations were stated, and after 

 the paper was read, the lecturer de- 

 monstrated some of the properties of blood 

 with the spectroscope. Specimens of blood 

 from various animals were also furnished 

 by other members, displaying the differ- 

 ence between the blood of fishes, birds 

 and mammals. 



The evening of November 19th, was 

 devoted to testing wide angled objec- 

 tives by oblique light. The lines on Am- 

 phtpletira pellucida in balsam were 

 shown by Mr. Cox, with a Spencer \ 

 glycerin-immersion, of 1879, of 116° bal- 



