1880.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURN^AL. 



119 



this cement for sale, and from what use 

 we have made of it, we do not hesitate to 

 recommend it. It is transparent, does not 

 crack, and is not likely to run under the 

 cover. 



— We have received a programme of 

 the microscopical soiree which was given 

 at Detroit, under the auspices of the Grif- 

 fith Club of Microscopy, April 8th. There 

 were sixty microscopes and one hundred 

 and seventeen beautiful objects. The 

 Griffith Club seems to be a very enthu- 

 siastic organization, and as an admission 

 fee of twenty-five cents was charged at 

 the soiree, we hope the Club found their 

 exhibition a profitable one. 



— Medical Journals, in general, are filled 

 with so much matter that is without any 

 scientific value whatever, that it is a pleas- 

 ure to know that there are a few excep- 

 tions to the rule. One of the best medical 

 journals in this country is Archives of 

 Medicine, published bi-monthly, of which 

 Dr. E. C. Seguin is the chief Editor. The 

 articles published in that periodical are of 

 intrinsic value. It is not filled with re- 

 ports of college clinics, which are of a very 

 doubtful value to the practitioner, and the 

 editorial department is full of interesting 

 and instructive matter. 



In appearance. Archives of Medicine \?, 

 the most attractive medical journal among 

 our exchanges. (Putnam's Sons, Pub- 

 lishers.) 



— We have received Part 2 of Volume 

 second of the " Proceedings of the Daven- 

 port Academy of Sciences," which is one 

 of the very few scientific publications from 

 the West, that are of sterling value. In 

 this part we find a number of important 

 articles, quite fully illustrated by wood- 

 cuts, etchings on steel, and by albertype 

 or artotype plates. There are ten full-page 

 plates, and a number of wood-cuts besides. 

 The prosperity of the Academy is largely 

 due to the liberality of Mrs. P.V. Newcomb, 

 who presented the lot on which the 

 Academy building now stands. Mrs. 

 Mary L. D. Putnam was elected President 

 of the Academy in January, 1879. 



— Mr. Henry Skaer of St. Louis, 

 announces that he intends to revive The 

 Valley Naturalist, of which he was the 

 publisher during the year 1878. The sub- 

 scription price will be $1.50 per year; the 

 paper " will consist of sixteen pages of 

 valuable reading matter," occasionally il- 

 lustrated by wood-cuts and lithograph 

 plates. Communications should be ad- 

 dressed. Room 34, N. W. Cor. Third and 

 Pine Streets, St. Louis, Mo. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



To THE Editor: — Many microsco- 

 pists labor chiefly at night, at times ufider 

 a strong, glaring light, and it is to them 

 that I would make the following sugges- 

 tion ; especially to those who use the 

 monocular instrument, as such are more 

 liable to experience an injury, than those 

 using a binocular : The crown of an old 

 silk hat, with an opening made through 

 the center (the diameter of the aperture 

 being a trifle less than the diameter of 

 the draw-tube), fitted to the draw-tube 

 about two inches below the eye-piece, will 

 prove an effective eye-shade. 



T. D. Williams. M.D. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES 



CENTRAL NEW YORK. 



The regular meeting was held on the 

 evening of Tuesday, May 29th, at the office 

 of Dr. Aberdein, in Syracuse, President 

 Collins in the chair. Dr. B. W. Loomis 

 gave a very interesting demonstration of 

 his method of staining vegetable sections 

 with anilin violet in acetic acid. The pro- 

 cess was speedy and the results good. 

 The sections were all made by the " free 

 hand " method, and as regards thinness 

 and regularity were - very instructive 

 examples of what may be done by the 

 skilled hand, unassisted by the microtome. 



Dr. C. E. Slocum followed with some 

 remarks from memoranda on the use of 

 the microscope in medical jurisprudence, 

 referring to the structural differences in 

 the histology of man and the lower ani- 

 mals. Dr. Slocum's remarks were princi- 

 pally confined at this time to giving a 

 general outline of his subject, with some 

 considerations as to the various shapes of 

 the canaliculi in human and other varieties 

 of bone. 



WELLESLEY COLLEGE. 



The regular meeting of the Society was 

 held Monday evening. May 24th, the Presi- 

 dent, Miss Hayes in the chair. Miss 

 Clark read a paper on Starch, giving the 

 theories of growth and the different char- 

 acteristics of the starch grains in different 

 vegetable substances. This was illustra- 

 ted by black-board drawings of the starch 

 grains, the potato, bean, corn, buckwheat, 

 rice, oats, and arrow-root. She then gave 

 a very full analysis of the structure of a 

 g^ain of wheat, illustrated by drawings of 

 the various parts, under the microscope 

 and the polariscope. Slides illustrating the 

 subject were shown. 



