8 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [January, 



mounted in Canada balsam. The appearance of these slides is some- 

 what marred by the fallibility of the cement used. A good jet black 

 and pennant cement, working as easily and drying as readily as asphalt, 

 is a great desideratum a mong preparers. As the tags only of the Club 

 boxes contain addresses, members will greatly facilitate the work of 

 the club by securely attaching these tags. 



Box y~ . — Mr. John Kruttschnitt contributes slides illustrative of the 

 anatomy of Victoria regia, which he regards as somewhat anomalous. 

 The specimens are (i) Transverse section of petiole. (2) Perpendicular 

 section of a main rib. (3) Longitudinal section of same. (4) Fibro- 

 vascular tissue of same. (5) Tissue from main rib near its juncture 

 with the petiole, showing stellate structure. (6) Tissue from lamina, 

 and perpendicular section of same showing stellate structure. 



The contributor calls attention to the almost total absence of fibro- 

 vascular tissue in this plant, suggesting that the sparing manner in 

 which this tissue is represented in the common white lily {Nymphea 

 odorata) may have its compensation in the abundance of its stellar 

 structure. In Victoria regia he finds stellate structure in the leaf only, 

 bnt as showing that some isolated vascular fibres do occur he refers to 

 slide No. 4. All are mounted in a saturated solution of camphor and 

 chloroform, about a teaspoonful to a pint of water. Unfortunately the 

 white zine cement of these slides has yielded and is encroaching upon 

 the field. 



The increasing fullness of the notes which accompany the Club boxes 

 shows that the members realize the truth of the saying, ''Knowledge 

 is not given us to keep, but to impart ; its worth is lost in concealment." 

 Minute details of methods of preparation are of value, not only foi the 

 amount of actual information conveyed, but for the suggestiveness of 

 that information also. 



Box W'~ .— Slide No. 1, contributed by Prof. C. H. Kain, of Phil- 

 adelphia, is a group of 22 arranged diatoms, fossil and recent, from 

 Nottingham, Md., Isle of Mors, Jutland, and Hammonton, N. J. The 

 following species are included : Actinocyclus ehrenbergii* Pinnularia 

 nobilis, Navicula firma, Heliopelta e/irenbergii, and Trinacria re- 

 gina. The diatoms are arranged with mechanical finger on the slide, 

 mounted in balsam, and the cement used is Brown's rubber. Forgetting 

 the caution as to care in the use of higher powers, somebody has 

 brought an objective clown upon the cover, to its detriment and that of 

 two of the valves of Trinacria. 



No 2 by Prof. C. H. Kain has marine diatoms from mouth of Squan 

 River, N. J., prepared by boiling in nitric acid, adding bichromate of 

 potash, ancUmounted in balsam. The point of interest shown in this slide 

 is the exceedingly variable nature of the diatom Navicula lyra. 

 Three photographic reproductions of the Schmidt's plates are appended 

 showing under how many names have been figured what ai'e clearly 

 varieties of Navicula lyra. Prof. Kain says it is not difficult to ar- 

 range these diatoms in a series which shows scarcely any difference be- 

 tween the two consecutive forms, and yet between the first and last of the 

 series a wide difference will be manifest. It is not strange that the 

 student of the diatomaceae often becomes puzzled in such a labyrinth, 

 where a single line more or less, or some slight difference in curvature, 

 is deemed sufficient to warrant the constitution of a new species. 



