158 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[August, I 



nity will be given to microscopists 

 who desire to bring and exhibit 

 their microscopes, apparatus or ob- 

 jects, whether they are members of 

 the A. A. A.S. or not. Ample rooms, 

 tables, and light will be provided, 

 and competent persons placed to 

 watch and care for the instruments 

 when the owners are away." 



On Tuesday evening, the 31st 

 instant, a reception will be held by 

 the Boston Microscopical Society, 

 in connection with the sub-section 

 of the Association. 



We will endeavor to report the 

 work of both the meetings accurate- 

 ly and as fully as space will permit. 

 In order to do this our September 

 number may be delayed a few days 

 later than our advertised time of 

 issue. 



The American Society of 

 Microscopists. 



The long-promised Proceedings 

 of this Society is at last published 

 and we are pleased to observe that 

 the volume is, in every respect, cre- 

 ditable to the publishing committee 

 and to the Society. It embraces the 

 " Proceedings of the National Mi- 

 croscopical Oongress," held at In- 

 dianapolis in 1878, and of the 

 "American Society of Microsco- 

 pists," held at Buffalo last year. 



The proceedings of both meetings 

 are fully reported, and will prove of 

 interest to microscopists generally, 

 but the most valuable portion of 

 the publication is the " Appendix " 

 which contains the "Annual Ad- 

 dress " of the President, Dr. R. H. 

 Ward, and several papers which 

 were* read at the Buffalo meeting. 

 Among these Prof. Kellicott's pa- 

 per " On Certain Crustacea Parasitic 

 on Fishes from the Great Lakes," 

 is illustrated with three full-page 

 lithograph-plates, and another by 

 the same author entitled " Observa- 



tions on Lerneocera Cruciata " has 

 two plates. 



We need not refer to all the pa- 

 pers that are published, for they 

 have already been mentioned in 

 this Journal, but Mr. Merriman's 

 article on " Mounting Double Stain- 

 ings" deserves the attention of 

 mounters, and Dr. Blackham's ta- 

 bular " Record of Objectives for the 

 Microscope " is deserving of careful 

 examination. 



We do not know the price of the 

 Proceedings, but Mr. Geo. E. Fell, 

 of Buffalo, to whose courtesy we 

 are indebted for a copy, will afford 

 any desired information about the 

 Society and its publications. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



ABOUT DIATOMS. 



To THE Editor: — The June number 

 of the Journal is just received, and I am 

 completely astounded that Mr. Stodder 

 failed to discover that the extract from 

 my letter which you unexpectedly pub- 

 lished, was, after the manner of my late 

 lamented townsman, Artemus Ward, 

 " rote sarcastic." 



I am glad, however, that Mr. Stodder 

 made the mistake he did, as it has brought 

 him to the surface again, and I hope to 

 hear from him through the JOURNAL 

 oftener than we have. His paper in The 

 Lens " On the Structure of Eupodiscus 

 Argus," etc., have made Mr. Stodder an 

 authority we cannot afford to lose ; and I 

 shall hope for his sake that Prof. Smith's 

 work may soon see the light. I would like to 

 add, for Mr. Stodder's benefit, that I went 

 through the needles eye (microscopically) 

 over twenty years ago ; and am not an 

 entire stranger to the study and labor of 

 tracing out the identity of species. Mr. 

 Stodder, however, seems after all to ignore 

 the precise difficulty I had in mind when 

 I wrote you, that is the decision as to 

 which one of two or more typical forms, 

 approaches nearest to that of an inter- 

 mediate form which is- clearly one or the 

 other of them, and yet differs in about 

 equal degree from each. 



And this difficulty is one not to be 

 helped by books, figures, or even Prof. 



