78 



THE AMEKICAN MONTHLY 



[April, 



men of science because there is not 

 much to be learned from them. The 

 average exhibitor has but a very super- 

 ficial knowledge of the specimens he 

 shows — a fact very easily discovered 

 by an inquisitive guest. This should 

 not be so, and hardly could be if the 

 spirit of these suggestions were car- 

 ried out. If persons attend exhibi- 

 tions of the kind to pick up scraps of 

 knowledge here and there, certainly 

 the exhibitors should at least read up 

 about their own objects, and be ready 

 to tell sometliing about them. 



We would be glad to receive com- 

 munications and suggestions from 

 readei"s concerning the subject, as it 

 is one of universal interest. 



Postal Cl'^ j Boxrs. — Box I came 

 into this circuit Feb. 9th an empty 

 box, to be filled. The new headings 

 of the letter packet are a great im- 

 provement over the old. The printed 

 form calls for common and scientific 

 name of the object, how prepared, 

 mounting medium, cell and cements, 

 objectives advised for exr mination, 

 and history or description of the 

 object. 



We have put in a slide of Chroole- 

 pus aureus^ one of the aerial algse, col- 

 lected in 1882 in Watkins Glen, New 

 York. 



Box B=^ reached this circuit on the 

 fifth of March, with the following 

 preparations : — 



I. Sections of seeds of Cucurbita 

 melopepo^ squash. Rev. A. B. 

 Hervey. The sections of the seed are 

 quite interesting for study. Four lay- 

 ers are described, viz : — 



1. Large reticulated cells. 



2. Lignified cells, two layers. 



3. Small reticulated cells. 



4. A very much thicker layer of 

 elongated cells or tubes, filled with 

 starch in the natural state. ' This 

 layer constitutes the white velvety 

 coating of the side of the squash seed, 

 and is very much more developed in 

 this than in the C. pepo.' 



The cement is running in and spoil- 

 ing this preparation. 



2. Hairs and scales of Shepherdia 

 Canadensis. W. H. Pratt. 



3. Sand from the shore of Province- 

 town, Cape Cod. J. M. Crocker. 

 ' Said to contain upward of a dozen 

 varieties of minerals.' This is inter- 

 esting information, but it would be 

 desirable to know what the minerals 

 are. This preparation was spoiled, 

 and is ' out for repairs ' A fern leaf 

 v^^ith fruit double stained has been 

 substituted. 



4. Diatomaceai from Sandwich 

 Islands. Elijah Brent. Very good 

 diatoms, but the cover-glass might 

 have been put on the middle of the 

 slide instead of where it is, on one 

 side. 



5. Diatoms from marsh near Mount 

 Auburn, Mass. L. M. Willis. 



6. Diatoms from Island of Corsica. 

 W. H. Curtis. 



Box Cb came to hand February i8th 

 with a fine preparation of pikritefrom 

 Mr. A. C. Cole's series. This was 

 the only slide in the box. 



Box Ca came to hand Maixh 17th 

 containing two preparations of Cole's 

 series — one a transverse section of the 

 stem of the copper beach, the other a 

 section of the stem of the umbrella 

 plant. 



NOTES. 



— We find a notice in one of our valued 

 exchanges to the effect that Mr. Duclaux 

 has sent a communication to the Acade- 

 mic des Sciences, Paris, stating that from 

 experiments he has made with the Dutch 

 pea and haricot bean, he conchides that 

 seeds will not germinate in soil freed 

 from micro-organisms. This rather sur- 

 prising conclusion requires, to say the 

 least, confirmation before it can be re- 

 garded as of the slightest importance. A 

 still more astonishing announcement is 

 made in the same place in these words : 

 • Mr. Pasteur also states that he has found, 

 by experiment on animals, that food 

 which is free from micro-organisms can- 

 not be digested.' It is truly astonishing 

 how rapidly such squibs as these are 

 taken up by newspapers and spread broad- 

 cast. The readers of this journal will not 

 be carried away by the brilliancy of either 

 of these remarkable observations. We 



