1889.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 85 



Report upon the Postal Club Boxes — Y. 



By QUEEN MAB. 



Box E. The last three boxes of slides have been of unusual interest, 

 either from the exceptional character of the slides, or from the especially 

 interesting notes which have accompanied them. And in this connec- 

 tion the words of the late Dr. M. N. Miller, as given in the Annual 

 Report of the Club, are appropriate : "I cannot but feel that the mem- 

 bers are depriving themselves of much of the value which they might 

 gain from membership by neglecting the pages of the note-books." 

 And again : " Would it not be better to have more extended descrip- 

 tions of our slides ? Persons contribute things very familiar to themselves 

 and seem to think they ought to be self-evident to others." The man- 

 agers of the Club also say : " Not only are the notes by our profes- 

 sional teachers and experts models of instructive demonstration, but the 

 less experienced members are often able to present most interesting 

 things which they have had exceptional opportunities for observing. 

 Such notes, if really good of their kind, are sure to be useful." 



Slide No. i is by Louis H. Noe, Elizabeth, N. J., and the infor- 

 mation imparted concerning the nature of the object, the methods of its 

 preparation and preservation, is summed up in these three words, 

 " Hydroidea, Pennaria tiarella." This is a very interesting slide, 

 the tentacles being well expanded. 



No. 2, T. D. Hodges, So. Orange, N. J., has an even more chary 

 description, Pa7idans odoratus ; all the rest is left to conjecture. 



Slide No. 3, prepared by J. D. Hyatt, and contributed by Dr, 

 Samuel Lockwood, of Freehold, N. J., the president of the Club, is 

 accompanied by a model description. This slide shows the lt Fossil 

 Rhizopod, Eozoon canadense, from Laurentian Rocks of Canada." 

 Objectives recommended from % to ^. " This fossil is regarded by Dr. 

 Dawson, of Montreal, as a Rhizopod, which would extend life down to 

 Archaean time. This has been the subject of very warm discussion. 

 The late Dr. W. B. Carpenter advocated the Rhizopod view, and per- 

 formed great labor in the investigation. At his visit to this country he 

 made it the subject of an address to the N. Y. Microscopical Society, 

 at which time he exhibited a large number of his own preparations of 

 the fossil. This specimen of Mr. Hyatt's preparation is very beautiful. 

 It is not a show slide, but will interest those who care to put a little 

 thought on the earliest possible records of animal life. See Dana's 

 Manual of Geology. Consult index on word Eozoon." 



Slide No. 4, Edward Field, preparer and contributor, Red Bank, 

 N. J. " Portion of sac containing periwinkle spawn. Balsam." 



Slide No. 5. W. C. Gorman, Randolph, N. Y., Suckers on Leg of 

 Dytiscus marginalis. Mounted in Canada balsam, and cement used, 

 Zinc White. For description, members are referred to Carpenter. 



Slide No. 6. H. S. Housekeeper, So. Bethlehem, Pa. "Pollen of 

 Erythro?ttim americanum. Dry." 



Box U*. No. 1, by S. G. Shanks, M. D. Albany, N. Y., Vertical 

 Section of Scalp of Man. Section cut in freezing microtome, stained 

 with borax carmine. Medium, balsam in benzole ; cement, shellac. 

 Objectives recommended 1 inch and \. There is a figure of this prepara- 

 tion in the note-book, and the following description: " The hair rises 



