1901] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 233 
wig’s wing which I mounted in the “eighties” kept very 
well till quite lately, and then went in this way. Iwish 
some member would photograph this vaporized jelly; it is 
just like a wall-paper pattern, and every branch seems 
to join on contiuously. I have never seen a more beauti- 
ful example.—G@. H. Bryan. 
- [have photographed the “vaporized jelly” as Dr. Bryan 
wishes. The narrow portion of the pattern is the jelly, 
and the wider part the vacuoles.—J. J. Wilkinson. 
This beautiful and wavy pattern arises, I think, from 
shrinkage of the mounting medium, whether glycerine 
jelly or not I cannot say. Ihave mounted many objects 
in that medium, and have many now of some years’ stand- 
ing, but have never had a slide turn ont like this, In 
my case the jelly has always filled up the space under 
the cover-glass, whereas in the present instance it only 
partially fills the space, the rest being air, so that there 
is room for expansion or shrinkage. This, however, is 
only my idea; and as Dr. Bryan has some slides mounted 
in jelly which have acted in a similar manner, his views 
of the cause may be the correct one.—John Hibbert. 
CARMINE AND PIORO-CARMINE AS StTains.—I would 
like to enter a protest against the use of carmine stain. 
One cannot get rid of the little particles of carmine that 
so plentifully bestrew the objects. It is the same with 
haematoxylin. The color is but mechanically suspended, 
whereas in picric acid and the aniline dyes the stain is 
chemical and leaves no deposit.—Adam Clarke Smith. 
Iam afraid 1 do not follow Mr. Smith’s objection to 
the carmine stain. In the slide referred to,there are to 
be seen abundant tissue nuclei stained deeply with car- 
mine, and in places shreds of tissue that have become 
loosened during mounting; but I nowhere observe parti- 
cles. of carmine ‘“‘bestrewing the objects.” Carmine is 
certainly not a good stain for most animal tissues, being 
