1881.] 



MICEOSCOPICAL JOUEI^AL. 



YT 



12 E. 22d Street. N. Y. Vice-President, 

 Wm. H. Atkinson, 41 E. 9th Street, -N. Y. 

 Secretary, O. G. Mason, Bellevue Hospi- 

 tal, New York. - Treasurer, T. d'Ori- 

 mieulx, 7 Winthrop Place, N. Y. Curator, 

 John Frey, Bellevue Hospital, N. 

 Y. * * * 



" Communications and packages for the 

 Society should be plainly addressed to the 

 American Microscopical Society of the 

 City of New York, care of the Secretary, 

 New York City, N. Y., O. G. Mason, 

 Secretary." 



We observe that some of our con- 

 temporaries have given publicity to 

 this announcement, and for this rea- 

 son, it seems proper to correct any 

 " misapprehensions " that may arise 

 therefrom. From such information 

 as we have been able to obtain, from 

 sources which we regard as authentic, 

 it appears : 



1. That the above-named society 

 enjoys but a nominal existence. 



2. That a considerable amount of 

 valuable material, which accumulated 

 while the Society was in a prosperous 

 condition, is about the only element 

 which now keeps the organization 

 in existence. 



3. It is the general opinion in this 

 city, that there will be a " division of 

 the spoils " when a favorable time 

 comes. 



4. That the above-named officers 

 constitute almost the entire member- 

 ship. 



5. That no other members are de- 

 sired. 



The New York Microscopical So- 

 ciety now numbers about thirty-five 

 members, and the interest in the 

 meetings is constantly increasing. 

 o 



Life on the Seashore. — Mr. 

 George A. Bates has published a 

 small book, which forms the first of 

 his " Naturalists' Handy Series," and 

 which will prove very interesting to 

 microscopists who visit the seashore, 

 or who enjoy keeping marine aquaria. 

 The full title of the book is " Life on 

 the Seashore, or Animals of our 

 Coasts and Bays," with illustrations 

 and descriptions, by James H. Emer- 

 ton. It is so rich in illustrations 



that are of real value to the amateur 

 collector, and the information, and 

 descriptions given are so appropriate 

 to the wants of such persons, that we 

 take pleasure in giving it our hearty 

 commendation. While the author 

 has not attempted to describe the 

 more abundant animals in detail, and 

 has consequently not found it neces- 

 sary to devote much space to their mi- 

 croscopical characteristics, minute 

 forms of life, the polyzoa, zoophytes, 

 hydroids and sponges, have not been 

 neglected, and in many cases the 

 puzzling embryonic forms of the 

 higher animals are described and 

 figured. 



Mr. Emerton must be an experi- 

 enced collector, for he has certainly 

 shown excellent judgment in the 

 selection of his illustrations and in 

 the descriptions, manifesting a full 

 appreciation of what persons most 

 desire to know, who are but slightly 

 acquainted with marine life or general 

 zoology. 



o 



Collections. — With the opening 

 of Spring we avail ourselves of the 

 opportunity to urge our readers to 

 begin early in the season to make 

 collections, for, during the months of 

 April and even sometimes in March, 

 most interesting objects can be found 

 which, plater in the year, will either 

 disappear or enter upon their purely 

 vegetative stage of existence. The 

 true student will not be deterred by 

 chilly air or muddy banks from search- 

 ing for the treasures of the ponds in 

 early Spring. It is the prevailing 

 opinion that during the Winter, when 

 the ponds are covered with ice, there 

 is nothing in them worth collecting. 

 The keeper of an aquarium knows 

 better than this, for, by cutting through 

 the ice, healthy water-plants may be 

 found, horn-wort, Myriophyllum, An- 

 acharis, for example, and Volvox and 

 Daphnia and Cyclops and many other 

 forms of plants and animals can be 

 collected with the dipping bottle. 



By the time this number of the 

 Journal is distributed, it will be 



