96 



THE AMEKICAN MONTHLY 



[May, 



lead the thoughts and energies of 

 some of our readers to this subject, 

 which cannot fail to be attractive to 

 those who will begin the study. 



Postal Club Boxes. — Box F 

 came to hand April 23d with five 

 slides, No. I and the corresponding 

 page of the letter packet having been 

 removed. 



2. Wheel-like Spicula of Chirodota 

 from Bermuda. F. M. Hamlin. A 

 good description and figure accom- 

 panies this dry-mounted preparation. 

 There is an unfortunate condensation 

 of minute drops beneath the cover- 

 glass, which mars the original excel- 

 lence of the mount. 



3. Muscle-cells from Large Intes- 

 tine of Cat. S. H. Gage. 



4. Transverse section of Human 

 Toe-nail. M. S. Wiard. The sec- 

 tion is well cut by the method de- 

 scribed, which was by clamping the 

 specimen between two pieces of wood 

 and using a carpenter's plane. It is 

 not well inounted, being twisted, and 

 is of no interest whatever to the club. 

 The method of cutting might have 

 been just as well illustrated by a more 

 interesting object. 



5. Section of Softened Dentine 

 from Carious Tooth. A. M. Ross. 

 This is an instructive specimen which 

 deserves, and doubtless will receive, 

 careful examination from the club. 



6. Comb-like Appendage from 

 thorax of Scorpion, John D. White. 

 The preparer asks for information 

 concerning the use of this appendage, 

 which is well displayed on the slide. 

 Mr. C. E. Hanaman suggests they 

 probably sei-ve some purpose in copu- 

 lation, and refers to Owen's ' Lec- 

 tures on Comparative Anatomy, etc.,' 

 where he finds the following passage : 

 ' The palpi of the scorpion take no 

 share in the formation of the genera- 

 tive system in either sex ; both male 

 and female are provided with a pair 

 of peculiar comb-like appendages at- 

 tached directly behind the genital 

 aperture.' 



Swine Plague. — Considerable in- 

 terest has recently been manifested in 

 some quarters concerning the cause of 

 the disease popularly known as swine 

 plague. We give a brief summary of 

 the course of the investigations by the 

 different observers engaged in the 

 work. 



About the years 1 876-7 Klein found 

 what he described as a Micrococcus 

 in the tissues, which he regarded as 

 the cause of the disease. Afterward, 

 in 1878, he found a Bacillus^ which 

 he cultivated, and used successfully in 

 inoculation experiments. About a 

 year later a Bacillus was also found 

 by Detmers, of Chicago, who in the 

 course of another year expressed some 

 doubt about the Bacillus^ but de- 

 scribed rod-like organisms. 



The Report of the Department of 

 Agriculture for 1880 contains an ac- 

 count of the earlier investigations of 

 Salmon, who there describes a Mi- 

 crococcus^ and in a later report he 

 demonstrated the pathogenic nature 

 of the Micrococcus by cultivations 

 and inoculations, which, so far as we 

 can discover, is the first satisfactory 

 conclusion that was reached in these 

 investigations ; for all the preceding 

 evidence was of an uncertain charac- 

 ter as regards the specific organism 

 producing the disease. In 1882 Pas- 

 teur and Thuillier also described a Mi- 

 crococcus^ cultivated it, and showed it 

 to be pathogenic. Klein has recently 

 endeavored to sustain his original 

 opinion that the active organism of the 

 disease is a Bacillus^ so the question 

 seems in a fair way of being opened 

 once more for further investigation. 



Concerning the identity of the schi- 

 zophytes obsei"ved there has been some 

 uncertainty on the part of at least one 

 observer who at one time attributed 

 his inability to decide the question to 

 imperfections in the objective used, 

 which was a Hartnack — a brand that 

 is usually considered good enough for 

 anybody. Some correspondence up- 

 on this subject has already been pub- 

 lished in the second volume of this 

 Journal, pp. 37 and 57. 



