1895.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 247 



spring whicli attaches it to a little rod of steel fastened to the 

 left of the sub-stage. It is turned at will to the right. The 

 mirror has, besides, an independent vertical and lateral move- 

 ment, a forward and backward movement for oblique illumina- 

 tion. — Translated from Le Micrographe Preparateur. 



MICROSCOPICAL MANIPULATION. 



Cell Culture of Fungi. — In Bessey's Botany the following 

 directions iire giving for cultivating fungi, the blue mold of 

 bread for instance, in cells : Glass, tin or india-rubber rings four 

 to five millimeters high are fastened to ordinary glass slides : a 

 very little water is placed in the bottom of cell so formed, to 

 keep the air in it always moist; a small drop of the nutrient 

 liquid, free from spores of any kind, is placed in the middle of 

 a cover glass of the proper dimension, and in this a single spore 

 of some particular mould is placed ; the coyer glass is now in- 

 verted over the cell. The preparation must be placed in a warm 

 and saturated atmosphere. An ordinary bell-jar set over a 

 plate of water, or, better still, of wet sand, will furnish a very- 

 good moist chamber. 



Beauties in Sponges. — Among the most beautiful micros- 

 copic slides we have seen, says the National Druggist, is a slide 

 of foraminifera which, under an amplifying power of 50 to 100 

 diameters, presents a truly enchanting spectacle. After exam- 

 ining them for a few moments the first and most natural ques- 

 tion is, "Where in the world did you find them ?" The 

 questioner expects to be told that they are scarce and difficult 

 to obtain, and is immensely astonished when informed that 

 they come from among the sand and dust of a sponge-basket. 

 And yet such is the fact, and they may be found in almost 

 every new sponge. Beat out the first new sponge that you come 

 across, and then put the sand under the microscope, and you 

 will be amply repaid for your trouble. 



BACTERIOLOGY. 



Utility of Microbes. — Many persons have an idea that bac- 

 teria, or "germs" as they often are called, have no good in them, 



