202 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [Juno 



wliich may l»e tairlv well shown under a rrood dry lens, 

 'l^he details, however, are seen better witii an oil immer- 

 sion. Some of the hairs on this slide show the sickle fihi- 

 mentsdee])! V stained and devoid of any adhering- substance; 

 others have a small quantity of the gummy fluid held with- 

 in the hollow of the sickle, while the majority of the hairs 

 are ti])ped with larg-e g"lobules that ct)uld easily be mis- 

 taken for permanent knobs or suckers. 



The specimen also distinctly shows that the shafts of 

 the hairs fring-ing- the pulvillus do not spring- separately 

 from it, but each root or stem forks off near the base, 

 forming- two hairs. 



I had hoped that staining- would have rendered visil>le 

 the orifice from which the adhering- substance exudes, as 

 the opening- should be larg-e, considering- the size of the 

 attached g^lobules, but no such orifice has been detected. 

 Judg-ing-, however, from the way the viscid substance 

 seems in most cases to be held within the hollow of the 

 sickle, it appears possible that a slit may exist along- the 

 filament capable of expanding- and allowing- the substance 

 to exude freely. 



The foot in question has been subjected to no cleanings 

 process. Any attempt at such would inevitably clear 

 away the globules adhering- to the hairs, as is the case in 

 ordinary preparations. — Eliot Merlin. 



Preservation of Flo\vers. The following- is a very old 

 method of keeping- llowers without loss of cc^lor: Dry some 

 very fine, pure siliceous sand in the sun or oven ; then 

 take a wooden, tin-plate, or pasteboard box sufticicntly 

 larg-e and deep, and place vour llowers inside erect ; then 

 fill the box witli sand until tlie last is aI)out an inch above 

 the top of the flowers. The sand must i>o run in gently 

 so as not to break the flowers. Cover the box with ])a])er 

 or perfoi'ated card board and place it in the sun-lig-ht, oven 

 or stove ; continuous heat g^ives the best results. After 

 two or three days the flowers will be very dry, but they 

 w ill have lost none of their natural brilliancy. — Journal of 

 Horticulture. 



