1882.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



239 



— Wilford's Mtcrocostn is a monthly 

 periodical, a copy of which has been on 

 our desk for some time, awaiting ex- 

 amination. It purports to be a " religio- 

 scientific monthly," and the publishers in- 

 vite special attention to the " new and 

 radical departures in science and philoso- 

 phy " which have characterized it. We 

 admit that if the articles on sound and 

 gravitation in the number before us are 

 fair exponents of the new departures 

 spoken of, they deserve some attention 

 from the scientific press. Not because 

 they are valuable, but because, reaching 

 as they doubtless do a large class of 

 readers who have but a superficial ac- 

 quaintance with science, such articles tend 

 to cast discredit upon science, They are 

 beyond criticism and unworthy of it. 

 Their influence upon the progress of edu- 

 cation is as pernicious as the effect of ob- 

 scene literature upon morality. We can 

 only express our sincere regret that such 

 a paper as The Microcosm can find 

 readers enough in the nineteenth century 

 to make its publication possible; and this 

 must be the feeling of every thoughtful 

 person who has an interest in the ad- 

 vancement of knowledge and the educa- 

 tion of the people. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



To THE Editor.— In the last number 

 of your excellent Journal, I observe re- 

 ference made to mounting in balsam " by 

 the carbolic acid process." As I presume 

 many are ignorant, like myself, of the pro- 

 cess, a brief explanation in your next 

 number, would be read with great interest. 



E. G. D. 



[The process mentioned was fully de- 

 scribed by Mr. Vorce, in the September 

 number of Vol. I. That volume is now 

 quite out of print, but a few copies of the 

 September number can still be obtained. — 

 Ed.] 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. 



At a meeting of the New York So- 

 ciety, held November 3d, Mr. J. D. Hyatt, 

 described the structure of coral, and ex- 

 hibited some sections of fossil coral 

 whicli/ie had prepared, in which the coral 

 skeleton had become changed from amor- 

 phous limestone into calcite, or crj'stal- 

 line carbonate of lime. The cells which 



were originally occupied by the coral ani- 

 mal were filled with crystals of quartz, and 

 as the crystals were cut at various angles 

 to their axer in making the sections, the 

 latter showed very gorgeous colors with 

 polarized light. One of the corals especial- 

 ly referred to, was Coltimnaria alveolata. 

 He also showed a specimen of flint 

 which he thought, from its microscopic 

 structure, was originally a coral-rock. 

 Flints are supposed to be usually derived 

 from silicious sponges. In this specimen 

 none of the lime carbonate of the coral 

 remained, but the coral structure was 

 preserved. The " table rock " at Niagara 

 is limestone made exceedingly hard by 

 silica. Some distance below the surface, 

 where the silicification has not yet extend- 

 ed, the limestone is softer. 



In reply to a question by Dr. Clarke, the 

 speaker said that in some cases the cal- 

 careous coral substance is dissolved and 

 replaced by silica. The silica is some- 

 times crystalline, sometimes amorphous. 



Mr. N. L. Britton, referred to the Her- 

 kimer (N. Y.) limestone, in which Colum- 

 naria. was abundant. Probably the speci- 

 mens examined by Mr. Hyatt came from 

 that formation, as great deposits' of silica 

 are found there. The silica was doubt- 

 less deposited from aqueous solution. In 

 reference to this question, Mr. Kunz re- 

 ferred to deposits of chalecedony around 

 sponges at Tampa Bay, where it is sup- 

 posed the silica comes from silicious water 

 from the land. 



' Mr. Kunz read a short article contri- 

 buted by Mr. W. E. Damon, giving an 

 account of his observations on coral ani- 

 mals in aquaria, which is published in 

 another column. 



At a meeting held November 17th, 

 Polycystina and the Radiolaria in general, 

 were the subject of discussion. Mr. Hitch- 

 cock spoke on the subject, giving a short 

 account of the relations of those beautiful 

 marine organisms to the Protozoa, and 

 the Rhizopods in general. 



One can scarcely speak of the Polycys- 

 tina without first making some reference 

 to the structure of the rhizopods in 

 general. They are by no means all so 

 simple in their structure as the primitive 

 amoeba, and even this minute spec of liv- 

 ing protoplasm is far from being a struc- 

 tureless mass of living jelly, as it is fre- 

 quently said to be. Yet the rhizopods 

 occupy a very low position among the 

 protozoa. Imagine a clear, transparent, 

 colorless, semi-fluid substance, which has 

 the power of moving, and you have an 

 idea of the appearance of the simplest 



