1885.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



117 



ing of the streets and avenues during 

 the coming season for the purpose of put- 

 ting under ground the numerous telegraph 

 wires, as required by a recent act of the 



Legislature 



' Rfsoh'iui, That in the opinion of this 

 department, while the occasional opening 

 of a street or avenue in ordinary times for 

 the laying of a water or gas pipe or for 

 other similar purposes might not seriously 

 threaten the health of the city, the execu- 

 tion of so extensive a piece of work as the 

 laying of all telegraph wires under ground 

 in one season, as contemplated by the act 

 referred to, or to make extensive excava- 

 tions in the streets for any purpose, would 

 prove highly detrimental to the health of 

 the city, especially in that portion densely 

 populated, through the exposure to the 

 atmosphere of so much subsoil saturated, 

 as most of it is, with noxious gases, and 

 that it would be wise for all parties, offi- 

 cials and others, to avoid as far as possi- 

 ble during the approaching summer mak- 

 ing any street excavations not impera- 

 tively needed by the exigencies of the 

 public service.' 



Probably nobody dreams that all 

 that cut-and-dried preamble and reso- 

 lutions of the Board of Health were 

 purely in the interest of public health. 

 But can it be possible that Dr. For- 

 dyce Barker, for example, really be- 

 lieves that the tearing up of the New 

 York streets would be followed by, 

 or in any wise contribute to, such 

 dire consequences? If not, why did 

 he or his associates concoct such a 

 communication ? Either it .must have 

 been through ignorance, or else self- 

 interest. In either case it was repre- 

 hensible in such men. 



It is not, perhaps, within our pro- 

 vince to make notice in these columns 

 of such tnatters, yet from one point 

 of view it seems to be so, for it is the 

 duty of every editor of a scientific 

 publication to condemn without fear 

 or favor whatever, in the guise of 

 science, may seem calculated to de- 

 ceive, and especially when it ema- 

 nates from those whose high position 

 gives great, or undue, weight to their 

 utterances. It is thus that the scien- 

 tific press can exert an influence, 

 which will counteract the tendency 

 now and then manifested among able 



men of science to sacrifice their integ- 

 rity for the sake of gain. Thus it 

 would come to pass that a man's repu- 

 tation would depend not, as it too 

 often does, upon public favor, but 

 upon the more critical estimate of his 

 associates and co-laborers. 



Postal Club Boxes. — Box B- 

 came to hand April 14th, containing 

 some excellent preparations from 

 Troy, N. Y., all well described. 



1. Leaf of sundew, Drosera ro- 

 tundifolia. R. H. Ward. The 

 glandular trichomes of the leaf which 

 secrete a viscid fluid to captuVe in- 

 sects and digest them to supply food 

 for the plant are well shown. 



2. Cancer, Scirrhous carcinoma. 

 J. D. Lomax. 



3. Transverse section of tongue of 

 cat. C. E. Hanaman. An exceed- 

 ingly good and interesting section, 

 well described in the letter. 



4. Internal parasite of black bass. 

 Frank Ritchie. The name is not 

 given by the preparer, but A. S. 

 Packard writes that it is probably an 

 EchinorJiynchus. Mr. Ritchie sug- 

 gests that it was probably introduced 

 into the lakes about Troy from Roch- 

 ester, trom whence the lakes were 

 stocked, as the parasites had not been 

 observed previous to time of stocking. 



5. Urns or spore-capsules of a moss, 

 Funaria hygrometrica. Joseph 

 McKay. Mounted dry in a brass cell 

 with a lid. A fine preparation for 

 study. The preparer oflers dupli- 

 cates, mounted with glass covers, for 

 exchange. His address is Troy, N. Y. 



6. Ossifying cartilage. A.M. 

 Wright. An excellent preparation 

 for study. 



Box Y"^ came to hand April i8th 

 with the following preparations : — 



1. Section of stomach of hound. 

 H. B. Chamberlin. 



2. Crystallized native silver. Prof. 

 L. D. Short. Somebody asks,' Where 

 from r 



3. Transverse section of a human 

 tooth, with ossified pulp. Dr. A. B. 

 Robbins. A good section. 



