132 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [June, 



No. 6 is transverse section of mucus membrane of stomach, con- 

 tributed by R. M. Luther, of Philadelphia, Pa. It is stained with car- 

 mine and mounted in balsam. Attention is called to the arrangement 

 of the blood vessels and columnar epithelium. 



Box T'^ . Recalls two members who have, since the issue of this 

 box, passed on to fuller light and knowledge. Dr. L. M. Kenyon and 

 Henry L. Mills, Esq. An excellent feature of some of the late note- 

 books is the date of the preparation of the slides. Slide No. i is by 

 Dr. Geo. E. Fell, of Buffalo, prepared in 1886, and, perhaps owing to 

 the nature of the medium, is faring badly. It is human renal tube 

 casts, in natural medium. The casts on the slide are chiefly blood 

 casts and from a case of renal hyperaemia. Some one queries whether 

 it would not have been better to have stained these casts in the urinary 

 fluid before mounting. 



Slide No. 2 is a fresh-water sponge, by the late Henry Alills. Mye- 

 nia fiiiviatilis^ cleared in carbolic acid and mounted in Canada balsam. 

 The preparation shows skeleton spicula, sevieral statoblasts or winter 

 eggs, with their birotulate spicules. No. 3 was contributed for the 

 late Dr. Kenyon by Mr. Mills, a section of yellow water-lily, NupJiar 

 lutea. No. 4 is the work of Dr. Geo. E. Fell, of Buffalo. •' Tumor, 

 human." Section of growth from inside of knee joint. '* Many of 

 these growths, a little larger than the size of a pea, were removed from 

 the joint with quite satisfactory results by Dr. Hartwig, of Buffalo." 

 This is the comment which this slide has received : '' The word 

 tumor seems to court a diagnosis. It would be better to diagnose 

 this before sending out, as it would be more interesting." 



No. 5, prepared by B. W. Thomas, of Chicago, is contributed by 

 Miss A. M. Kenyon, of Buffalo, and is a slide of spicula of the sponge 

 shown on Slide No. 3, Alyenia fluviatilis^ boiled in acid, washed out 

 like diatoms, and mounted in balsam. A member asks. What acid.^ 

 To which query another member replies, Probably treated with nitric 

 acid. This destroys the statoblasts or winter eggs, but leaves clean 

 the birotulate spicules, which are seen in great numbers on the slide. 

 Slide No. 6, contributed by Prof. D. S. Kellicott, of Columbus, Ohio, 

 was unfortunately broken and withdrawn, but the notes and comments 

 remain. Flea of woodchuck. It was mounted by passing from alco- 

 hol into oil of cloves and balsam. This' flea is stated to be very odd. 

 One of the best American microscopists says of this slide : '^ Beautifully 

 prepared. Carbolic acid gives much the same result." This comment 

 is of interest as coming from such an authority, and yet much in con- 

 tradiction of another commentator recently quoted in these reports. 

 Indeed, so often do authorities disagree as to details that it is impossible 

 for the individual worker implicitly to follow any set of rules. There 

 is ample room for the development of the individuality and skill of 

 every worker. 



Tobacco Smoke and Bacteria. — It would seem that a powerful 

 poison, like nicotine, ought to be destructive to bacteria, and therefore 

 that smoking should exert some protective action against those bacteria 

 that gain access to the system through tlie nasal and buccal mucous 

 membranes. Some observations by Hajeck, of Vienna, and Tassinari, 

 of Pisa, seem to confirm this idea. 



