1880.] 



MICKOSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



135 



lished next Fall, if the responses to 

 this announcement are encouraging. 



Most adulterations are readily 

 detected by simple means, and by 

 any person of ordinary intelligence ; 

 and this work is intended to be a 

 reliable guide for those who desire 

 to test the purity of the articles 

 they use. It will treat of the ex- 

 amination of foods of all kinds — 

 starches, flours, meals, tea, coffee, 

 cocoa, sugar, milk, butter, lard, 

 spices, etc. ; the characters of the 

 various fibres used in manufactur- 

 ing, and the methods of distinguish- 

 ing them when they are mingled 

 in textile fabrics ; the examination 

 of water and air for sanitary pur- 

 poses, and much useful information 

 will be given about foods and fab- 

 rics, from a sanitaiy or hygienic 

 point of view. 



For further particulars the reader 

 is referred to the announcement 

 among the advertisements. 



Synopsis of the Diatoms. 



Dr. Henri Van Heurck has just 

 issued a prospectus of his " Synop- 

 sis des Diatomees de Belgique," a 

 publication which we beheve will 

 prove of great value to all students 

 of the diatoms. Owing to the 

 great abundance of diatoms in 

 Belgium — the numerous genera and 

 specie — salmost all the marine forms 

 which have been found in England 

 are there represented ; the Ar- 

 dennes furnish a large number of 

 the European Alpine species, and 

 the region of Central Belgium 

 produces fresh-water species in 

 abundance. The Synopsis will, 

 therefore, be of great use to diatom- 

 ists in all countries. 



Prof. H. L. Smith recently al- 

 luded to the book in a note to the 

 editor in these words : " I think 

 one can safely promise that it will 

 meet the wants of hundreds who 



caimot get ' British Diatomaceae ' 

 or Pritchard." 



In his prospectus the author 

 states, "There is no book to-day in 

 any language, which enables the 

 beginner to determine diatoms with 

 certainty, if we except the classic 

 work of William Smith, which, 

 published in 1854, is now behind 

 the times," and he expresses a hope 

 that by this publication he will ren- 

 der great service to micrographers. 



The work will present figures of 

 all the forms described in the text ; 

 and great care has been given to 

 the execution of the drawings. 

 They are completed or designed by 

 the author, or under his super- 

 vision, and retouched by him or by 

 Mr. Grunow. The drawings are 

 reproduced by heliography, and 

 the plates are therefore very per- 

 fect. 



The synopsis will be published 

 in six fascicules, appearing at inter- 

 vals of three to four months, each of 

 which will contain ten plates (about 

 two hundred and fifty figures), after 

 which the volume of descriptive 

 text will be published. 



The price of each fascicule, to 

 subscribers, will be $1.50 ; the vol- 

 ume of text will also cost $1.50. 

 The complete work, comprising six 

 fascicules of plates and on e volume of 

 text, will cost $10.00 to subscribers. 



Subscriptions may be sent to the 

 editor of this Journal. The first 

 fascicule will be ready very soon. 



o 



Studies of Atmospheric Dust. 



We have received a pamphlet 

 from Dr. George M. Sternberg, 

 Surgeon U. S. A., which gives an 

 account of the microscopical inves- 

 tigations of the Yellow Fever Com- 

 mission. 



Dr. Sternberg is now in New 

 Orleans, where he is conducting 

 experiments in connection with the 

 other work of the Havana Commis- 



