1884.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



117 



concerning it, but to whom we have 

 not heretofore been able to state the 

 price, or even to say whether the in- 

 strument could be obtained at all. 

 We are confident that whoever pur- 

 chases one of them will find it all we 

 have declared it to be. 



Our readers will recall the con- 

 struction of this instrument from the 

 description already given. It con- 

 sists of two prisms, with their con- 

 tiguous surfaces separated by a thin 

 film of air, made on the principle 

 first devised by Mr. Wenham, and 

 applied by him to the construction of 

 a binocular prism for high powers of 

 the microscope. The adjustment in 

 manufacture is quite difficult, we are 

 informed ; and it may be inferred 

 that it is so from the fact that the 

 binoculars, although pronounced to 

 be excellent, have not been manufac- 

 tured in any considerable number. 



The special point of superiority in 

 this instrument, which we observed 

 when we had the privilege of trying 

 the first one gi-ound and fitted in an 

 unfinished mounting, is the clear view 

 of the pencil and paper with good 

 light on the object. It is a difficult 

 matter to decide fully upon the merits 

 ofa new instrument from a single trial, 

 but what we were able to see at that 

 time led us to form a very high esti- 

 mate of the value of this instrument. 



NOTES. 



— Mr.T. Bolton's February Portfolio of 

 Drawings has come to hand, and is of 

 much interest. As the portfolio is issued 

 to persons who are able to receive living 

 specimens from Mr. Bolton they are to 

 them of special value, but they are also 

 useful to microscopists in this country 

 who are studying pond life. There are 

 sixteen plates in this number, with de- 

 scriptions, which are sold for one shilling, 

 and the figures are quite good enough to 

 assist in recognizing the organisms found. 

 Mr. Bolton's address is Birmingham, 

 England. 



— Drugs and Medicines of North Amer- 

 ica is the title of a quarterly magazine de- 

 voted to the historical and scientific dis- 



cussion of the botany, pharmacy, and 

 therapeutics of the medicinal plants of 

 North America. The first number came 

 to hand last month. From the prospectus 

 we learn that the projectors of the work 

 intend to make it a valuable ' compen- 

 dium that shall represent exhaustively all 

 known researches in this important field,' 

 and with this end in view they have got 

 together a very full library and a com- 

 plete herbarium. Illustrations will be nu- 

 merous, and microscopic structure will be 

 adequately shown. Such a publicadon 

 will undoubtedly meet with ready support 

 from both physicians and pharmacists. 

 The publishers are J. W. & G. C. Lloyd, 

 Cincinnati. 



— The Frankfurter Zeitung states that 

 Dr. Reinsch has found, as the result of a 

 series of investigations, that the surfaces of 

 50-pfennig pieces (sixpences), which have 

 been long in circulation, are the home and 

 feeding ground of a minute kind of bac- 

 teria and vegetable fungus. An extended 

 series of observations showed that this is 

 the case with the small coins of all na- 

 tions, the thin incrustation of organic mat- 

 ter deposited upon their surfaces in the 

 course of long circuladon rendering them 

 very suitable for this parasitical settlement. 

 Dr. Reinsch scraped off some of these in- 

 crustations, and with a small scalpel di- 

 vided them into fragments, which were 

 subsequently dissolved in distilled water. 

 The employment of lenses of high power 

 showed the bacteria and fungi distinctly. 



— The following announcement has 

 been published by Mr. E. H. Griffith, of 

 Fairport, N. Y., which promises to be a 

 very practical and useful undertaking : — 



' At the Annual Meeting of the Ameri- 

 can Society of Microscopists, to be held 

 in Rochester, N. Y., commencing August 

 19th, 1884, one entire session is to be de- 

 voted to practical illustradon of the meth- 

 ods of work by experienced microscopists. 

 Tables will be arranged in a room or rooms 

 provided for the occasion, which will be 

 occupied by experts in microscopical work. 

 How to measure the angle of apperature of 

 objecdves, how to measure the magnifying 

 powerof objectives and occulars, and other 

 work of similar character will be shown. 

 How to count blood corpuscles and to 

 measure them will be illustrated. How 

 to collect and to preserve material for fu- 

 ture mounts, how to make cements, re- 

 agents, etc., will be explained. Micro- 

 scopists will cut vegetable and animal 

 sections and stain them ; prepare insects, 

 hairs, scales of butterflies, blood, urinary 



