1885.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



17 



Nordenskiold found large cavities 

 in the ice of Greenland filled with a 

 fine mud wliich contained spherules 

 of iron, nickel and cobalt. The mud 

 was supposed to be derived from 

 space, the debris of planetary bodies. 

 It was estimated that the deposit 

 weighed several hundred tons on each 

 scjuare kilometer of surface, from 

 which one may conceive that the quan- 

 tity of cosmic dust that finds its way 

 to the earth in the course of ages is 

 considerable. 



Eggs of the House-fly. — One 

 of the articles in Science Gossip, en- 

 titled ' Graphic Microscopy,' by E. 

 T. D., is devoted to the eggs of the 

 house-fiy, with a colored lithograph. 

 The author treats his subjects in a 

 popular and interesting way. As re- 

 gards the eggs of the house-fly he 

 says : ' The common house-fly {Alusa 

 domestical, ubiquitous, residentiary, 

 and numerous as it may seem in the 

 dwelling-house, even invading the 

 sacred drawing-room, is found in far 

 greater numbers in gardens and the 

 surroundings of domestic oflices ; and 

 it is only in obscure and neglected 

 places where their elegantly -winged 

 eggs are discovered, under circum- 

 stances depending on the economy of 

 the creature, where the larvae when 

 hatched find sustenance, generally in 

 most putrefying substances ; under 

 such conditions, 60 to So eggs are de- 

 posited, in groups of a few ; the lay- 

 ing is repeated after intervals, the 

 eggs hatch in two or three days, and 

 the perfect insect so quickly arrives 

 at maturity that it has been calculated 

 and placed on authoritative record, a 

 single female, in one season, through 

 four generations, may produce two 

 million descendants.' 



When the eggs are found, which 

 will be only after careful search, they 

 can be mounted as permanent objects. 

 The plan recommended by E. T. D. 

 is to dip them in water at a tempera- 

 ture slightly below the boiling point. 

 This destroys vitality, and they may be 

 dried and mounted as opaque objects. 



If some readers will search for the 

 eggs of flies next season and mount 

 them neatly, the preparations would 

 be in demand for exchange. The 

 postal-club should have a preparation 

 of the kind when the boxes ai'e filled 



The New York Mickoscopjcal 

 SociETV. — We had the pleasure of 

 attending the meeting of this society 

 on the evening of January 2d, the 

 first we have been able to attend for 

 nearly two years. It was with much 

 satisfaction that we found the society 

 in a flourishing condition. It has 

 grown very rapidly, and has novv^ a 

 membership of about eighty. 



There is a healthful condition of 

 activity manifested in the meetings, 

 which apparently is not due to any 

 transient stimulation, but is the nat- 

 ural result of steady growth, fostered 

 by the conservative and business-like 

 manner in which the society has been 

 conducted. 



Among the first fruits of this flour- 

 ishing condition of the society is a 

 monthly edition of the ' Proceedings,' 

 the first number of which will proba- 

 bly be issued this month. The exist- 

 ence of this publication is due to the 

 liberality of some of the members, 

 who have subscribed a sufficient sum 

 to establish it. The intention is to 

 make it the organ of the society to 

 secure exchanges from other associa- 

 tions, and although it is offered as a 

 monthly publication to subscribers 

 •outside the society, it is not supposed 

 that the expenses of publication will 

 be met by subscriptions thus received. 

 It will contain reports of the meet- 

 ings, papers read, and the discus- 

 sions, and in addition translations 

 from foreign journals. 



While we can heartily approve of 

 the publication of ' Proceedings ' by 

 the New York society, and while we 

 have long looked forward to the time 

 when such a publication would be 

 possible, we would wish that a some- 

 what different scheme might be adopt- 

 ed and carried out, more in keeping 



