1884.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



239 



NOTES. 



— All subscriptions for the year 1884 

 have now expired, and renewals should 

 be made early to ensure prompt receipt of 

 the January number of 1885. The most 

 successful year this Journal has yet seen 

 is now drawing to a close, with flattering 

 assurances from many quarters that it has 

 a great value to a large number of read- 

 ers. Many valuable articles for next year 

 are already on hand, and no efforts will 

 be spared to make its future equal to the 

 promise of the past. 



— We have received from Mr. G. S. 

 Woolman some preparations of diatoms 

 by Mr. W. C. Walker, which he proposes 

 to offer for sale at 75 cents each. The 

 diatoms are well cleaned, carefully se- 

 lected, and arranged in groups within or- 

 namental circles. The arranging and 

 mounting is neatly done, and the diatoms 

 are in most cases named on the label. 

 These slides are unique from the orna- 

 mental mounting, which must involve con- 

 siderable expenditure of time. Mr. Wool- 

 man says he has only a limited supply on 

 hand. 



— Messrs. H. R. Spencer & Co. have 

 again assumed control of the business of 

 selling their objectives. Dr. H. H. Chase 

 no longer acting as their agent. Orders 

 and correspondence should hereafter be 

 sent directly to them, where they will con- 

 tinue to manufacture the fine lenses for 

 which they have attained a high reputa- 

 tion. 



— A vial of water obtained by melting 

 ice was sent to Prof. Leidy for examina- 

 tion, as it contained some worms in the 

 sediment which had previously been no- 

 ticed in water from a cooler. Prof. Leidy 

 found a number of worms, belonging to 

 the genus Lumbriculus, immature angui- 

 lulas, and Rotefer vulgaris, all living. 

 These observations indicate a source of 

 contamination of water which is not gen- 

 erally suspected, although other observers 

 have before alluded to the organisms 

 found in water from melted ice. The re- 

 markable circumstance in this connection 

 is that the specimens found by Prof. 

 Leidy were alive. 



— An article, illustrated by three plates, 

 on the ' Life-history of Stentor Coeruleus, 

 or Blue Stentor,' has been published by 

 the Central Ohio Scientific Association, 

 in the Proceedings. The author is Prof. 

 G. W. Worcester, who has labored under 

 the disadvantage of not having the litera- 



ture of the subject at command. Accord- 

 ing to his own statement, he was thus 

 ' left free to investigate without being in- 

 fluenced by the theories of other observ- 

 ers.' He observed the fusion together of 

 individuals, the formation of a globular 

 mass, the segregation of the protoplasm 

 into spherical masses, and the production 

 of embryos within the body. The article 

 is an interesting one, as showing the 

 many changes which the stentor under- 

 goes. 



— 'The Microscopical News, ably edited 

 for four years by George E. Davis, F. R. 

 M. S., closes its career with the Decem- 

 ber number. We regret to lose it from 

 among our exchanges, as it has contained 

 many articles of interest, and it has been 

 conducted in a scientific spirit from the 

 beginning. The editor has been disap- 

 pointed in not receiving the encourag e- 

 ment his efforts have deserved, and he 

 has therefore deemed it best to abandon 

 the field. 



— Having occasion recently to purchase 

 a cabinet for slides which would allow a 

 large number of preparations to be classi- 

 fied and compactly stowed away, we 

 were not long in deciding to adopt the 

 Pillsbury cabinet, which we have occa- 

 sionally recommended to others. It is a 

 very cheap cabinet, which favors its ex- 

 tensive use, but it is also a good one. Un- 

 fortunately it is not much known, as the 

 makers do not adopt the best method of 

 bringing it to the notice of microscopists ; 

 and the low price at which it is sold makes 

 it scarcely suitable for sale by the general 

 trade. Nevertheless, any of the dealers 

 in microscopes would, no doubt, gladly 

 furnish them to their customers, if re- 

 quested to do so. 



— The list of wood sections prepared 

 for the microscope by the Rev. J. L. Za- 

 briskie includes a large number of species. 

 Transverse, radial and tangential sections 

 of each kind are mounted under one cover, 

 for 60 cents per slide. A set of these 

 preparations would certainly be interesting 

 and instructive to a botanist. 



— It is to be regretted that there is no 

 creditable serial publication in this coun- 

 try devoted to general science of a popu- 

 lar character. The reader who desires 

 such a periodical is obliged to order it from 

 England. There are two monthlies now 

 published in London, either of which we 

 can heartily recommend. Science Gossip 

 is one of them, now published by Chatto 

 & Windus, and greatly improved during 

 the past year. The articles on ' Graphic 



