1881.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



15Y 



Spirogyra nitida. 



Conferva vulgaris. 



Numerous species of Diatoms were 

 found, but not named. The Stauras- 

 trmji IcBve is stated by Mr. Wolle to 

 be a new species for the United 

 States. Sphcerozyga polysperma is very 

 abundant if the plant observed be- 

 longs to this genus, but v/e are not 

 yet positive as to its proper name. 

 There is another form which occurs 

 in great abundance, the true position 

 of which we have been unable to de- 

 termine. Fediastrum sitnplex is re- 

 garded as a somewhat rare form, but 

 it is abundant in this vicinity. It is 

 found also in the water supplied to 

 Jersey City, and Mr. Vorce has fig- 

 ured it in his first plate representing 

 the organisms found in the Cleveland 

 water. Among the other organisms 

 observed, but not carefully studied, 

 may be mentioned Atnceba villosa, 

 Difflugia globulosa, D. Corona, Ar- 



cella .? ActifiosphcBrmm .? Ce- 



? Brachionis conium, At- 



ratium ■ 



wood (see this Journal, Vol. II, p. 



102), Chcetonotus .? eggs of rotifers, 



numerous spicules of sponges. 



The Editor would consider it a 

 great favor if correspondents in dif- 

 ferent cities would send him filterings 

 from their water-supply, from time to 

 time, for comparison. They can be 

 readily collected by attaching a bag 

 of thin cloth to the faucet, and run- 

 ning the water for an hour or so. A 

 large bag, about six inches deep, is 

 preferable to a small one, as the 

 water then flows more freely. The 

 sediment should be washed into a 

 conical glass, allowed to settle, col- 

 lected in a bit of writing paper, 

 wrapped in moist blotting paper, and 

 the whole enclosed in tin-foil, when 

 it may be sent in an envelope. 



A New Vivarium. — Mr. J. D. 

 Hardy, in the Journal of the Qiiekett 

 Club, describes a modification of the 

 zoophyte trough which possesses 

 certain advantages over the ordinary 

 form. It consists of two slips of glass, 



3 inches by 2 inches, to one of which 

 a rubber or a glass ring of any de- 

 sired thickness is cemented. A piece 

 is cut out of the ring at the top, 

 about a quarter of an inch wide, 

 through which the water and the or- 

 ganisms to be examined are intro- 

 duced. The surface of the ring is 

 coated with an adhesive cement, or 

 simply greased, and the other glass 

 slip is applied and held in position 

 by rubber bands. The advantages 

 of this vivarium are several. It can 

 be carried about without danger of 

 losing the enclosed specimen or 

 spilling the water, it can be plunged 

 into a beaker of water in any posi- 

 tion and the object will not escape, 

 and it can be readily cleaned. 

 o 



Aerial Spores. — Because of the 

 prevailing opinion among medical 

 men and microscopists that certain 

 diseases result from the germs, or 

 spores, of minute organisms floating 

 about in the atmosphere, many per- 

 sons have inferred that all fungoid 

 spores found in the air are ini- 

 mical to good health. This opi- 

 nion is not well founded. There are 

 many spores which, at certain sea- 

 sons, are very abundant and which, 

 so far as we know, are quite harmless 

 in their influences upon the system. 



Another erroneous notion is, that 

 the air is always loaded with such 

 germs. The fact is that their num- 

 ber is dependent upon the weather. 

 Sometimes few or none will be found 

 at other times they will be numerous. 

 o 



Cover-glass. — The Zeitsch^'ift fur 

 Instrumentenkunde announces that 

 the thin cover-glass, heretofore ex- 

 clusively manufactured in England, 

 will now be made also in Germany, of 

 equally good quality and consider- 

 ably cheaper. The process, which 

 has been guarded as a secret in Eng- 

 land, has been discovered by Dr. 

 Otto Schott, through his own re- 

 searches. The manufacture has been 

 undertaken by the firm of Halme & 

 Schott Annen, bei Witten (Westp.) 



