240 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY. 



[December. 



Microscopy ' by E. T. D., which have been 

 published this year, with colored litho- 

 graphs, are very interesting. This paper 

 is devoted mainly to general natural his- 

 tory. The Illustrated Science Monthly, 

 published by David Bogue, completes its 

 second volume this month. This is de- 

 voted to general science, and we regard it 

 as the best publication of the kind in ex- 

 istence. We should have such a paper in 

 this country. 



COBBES PONDENCE. 



Staining and Mounting Casts, etc. 



To THE Editor : — Two years ago I 

 put up in glycerin many pathological 

 specimens derived from urine — cases of 

 acute and chronic nephritis, cirrhosis, etc. 

 The casts especially and some of the other 

 elements have quite faded out. I have 

 purchased slides stained of acute nephri- 

 tis, which seem permanent, and show the 

 casts beautifully. 



If in your articles ' Microscopical Tech- 

 nic ' you can give us the process of stain- 

 ing and mounting in this manner, I think 

 it may interest others as well as myself. 

 L. A. Baldwin. 



[It is not always a simple matter to pre- 

 serve specimens found in urinary depos- 

 its, although the more common deposits 

 such as uric acid, urates, phosphates in 

 their various forms, can be put up so as to 

 remain perfect for years. We have a few 

 such deposits that have been preserved in 

 small vials for eight years or more, and 

 they were in good condition a few months 

 ago. The secret of preserving crystals 

 is to put them either into a fluid which 

 will not act upon them, or into a saturated 

 solution of the compound. We do not at 

 present remember how the preparations 

 above mentioned were made, but we have 

 occasionally mounted deposits in the 

 mother liquor with the addition of a small 

 quantity of carbolic acid, with satisfac- 

 tory results. 



As for staining the tube-casts we must 

 ask some reader who has had experience 

 in this work to give the necessary instruc- 

 tions. We have not found any difficulty 

 in preserving the casts without staining, 

 but it is certainly an advantage to have 

 them colored. Anilin colors are scarcely 

 fast enough for the purpose. Doubtless a 

 longwood staining fluid would be useful, 

 or carmine. 



We have seen stained casts mounted 

 in balsam, but cannot recommend the 

 process. Even glycerin is not a desirable 



medium for the purpose, except for very 

 large and coarse specimens. Water with 

 a little carbolic acid in it preserves them 

 well and shows them as they are found in 

 practice. — Ed.] 



NOTIC ES OF BOOKS. 



The Agricultural Grasses of the United 

 ■ States. By George E. Vasey, Botanist 

 of the Department of Agriculture. Also 

 the chemical composition of American 

 grasses. By Clifford Richardson, as- 

 sistant chemist. Washington: Govern- 

 ment Printing Office. 1884. (Pp. 144 

 with 120 plates.) 



This is one of the many valuable scien- 

 tific publications of the Department of 

 Agriculture. The name of Dr. Vasey is 

 sufficient guarantee of the accuracy of the 

 descriptions and figures. Every botanist 

 should possess a copy. 



Preliminary List of the Parasitic Fungi 

 of Wisconsin. By William Trelease. 

 From the Transactions of the Wiscon- 

 sin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Let- 

 ters. Volume VI, 1881-84. Madison, 

 Wis. (Pamphlet, pp. 40.) 

 The fungi in this list, of which there are 

 about 270 species on approximately the 

 same number of hosts, include only those 

 which were examined by Prof. Trelease ; 

 most of them from the vicinity of Madi- 

 son. The list will probably be nearly 

 doubled by a few years' collecting. 



Exchanges. 



[Exchanges are inserted in this column without 

 charge. They will be strictly limited to mounted ob- 

 jects, and material for mounting] 



Unmounted material and labels for slides in ex- 

 chaiiee ior good slides. 



EUGENE PINCKNEY, 



Dixon, 111. 



Fossil Diatomaceous Earth, (a new find), very inter- 

 esting forms for other material. 



* J. WALKER, 



810 Twelfth Ave., South Minneapolis, Minn. 



Wm. R. Mandeville, M. D , of New Orleans, La., 

 483 Magazine street, has for exchange or sale a num- 

 ber of first-class mounts of pathological specimens, in- 

 cluding yellow fever and leprosy ; also a large number 

 of miscellaneous objects. 



Material for mounting of all kinds wanted in ex- 

 change for other first-class unmounted objects in great 

 variety. 



M. A. BOOTH, 

 Long Meadow, Mass. 



Will exchange very thinly cut and well-stained his- 

 tological and pathological slides for other histological 

 and pathological slides. Will also exchange a limited 

 number of histological tor oiher slides of various kinds. 

 H. L. WHITNEY, M. D., 

 German Hospital, Girard ave. and 21st st., 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



