153 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[August, 



value, and in this respect the Columbus 

 meeting has been more successful 

 than some of the preceding ones. 

 Among the more important contribu- 

 tions to science which were read at 

 Columbus, may be mentioned Mr. 

 Vorce's article on the destruction of 

 Acari by a fungus, and that of Prof. 

 Curtis, on blood; Dr. Jacob Redding's 

 paper on muscular contractility also 

 deserves to be classed among the 

 more important ones. 



The attendance at the meeting was 

 not large, but the Treasurer's report 

 showed a balance of $500.00 on 

 hand, which will doubtless enable the 

 Society to publish another volume of 

 Proceedings. 



Next year the Society meets at 

 Elmira, where, owing to the activity 

 of the local Society at that place, a 

 large and interesting meeting will 

 doubtless be held. 



Living Microscopic Specimens. — 

 Most of our readers are doubtless 

 aware of the liberal support which 

 the English public has accorded to 

 Mr. Thomas Bolton, in his efforts to 

 supply microscopists with living mi- 

 croscopic organisms. We are pleased 

 to state that Mr. A. D. Balen, of 

 Plainfield, N. J., who is an industri- 

 ous and enthusiastic collector, is mak- 

 ing arrangements whereby he expects 

 soon to be prepared to furnish vari- 

 ous kinds of minute animals and 

 plants of a most interesting nature. 

 As soon as Mr. Balen is ready to send 

 specimens by mail, we will again al- 

 lude to this subject ; but those who 

 are interested in the enterprise would 

 do well to correspond with him now, 

 as he has a variety of beautiful ob- 

 jects always at command. 

 o 



Close Lines Resolved. — Some 

 time ago Dr. S. O. Gleason, of Elmira, 

 N. Y., wrote a letter to the Editor, not 

 for publication however, desiring that 

 inquiry should be made among the 

 readers of this Journal, to learn 

 " what has been done in resolving 

 lines ruled on glass, and the methods 



by which the most successful results 

 have been attained." He states that, 

 so far as his knowledge extends, no 

 one has claimed to have seen lines 

 closer than 112,000 to an inch, with 

 the simple mirror-illumination ; but 

 he now asserts that with a J^-inch 

 objective, by Gundlach, a ^-inch 

 ocular and the mirror alone, using a 

 low, kerosene lamp for illumination, 

 he has resolved the band of 120,000 

 lines on Fasholdt's plate, and that 

 Dr. Hulbrook was present and saw 

 the lines ! Now, we do not wish to 

 seem unduly sceptical, but really if 

 he would have those lines photo- 

 graphed and then count them, the 

 evidence as to the true number of 

 lines to the inch would be more con- 

 vincing. At present we do doubt 

 that a true resolution of 120,000 lines 

 to the inch is possible in the manner 

 Dr. Gleason describes. 



We take pleasure in starting the 

 inquiry, and we hope to receive com- 

 munications from many who have 

 given special attention to the resolu- 

 tion of lines on glass. 



o 



A Process of Coloring Infus- 

 oria AND Anatomical Elements 

 During Life. — M. A. Certes, who is 

 well known to microscopists for his 

 excellent method of fixing infusoria, 

 and mounting them with their or- 

 gans extended, has lately published 

 an article in the Comptes Rendus de 

 r Academic des Sciences, describing a 

 method of coloring these organisms 

 during life, which we condense as 

 follows : — 



It has long been known that in- 

 fusoria and rhizopods are able to in- 

 gest particles of coloring matter held 

 suspended in the water in which they 

 live. Among the ciliated infusoria, 

 the Opalines, the Haptophrya and 

 other parasitic infusoria without a 

 buccal opening, are the only ones 

 which cannot take in particles of 

 carmine or indigo. Colored tinctures 

 may or may not be poisonous to in- 

 fusoria, but the cells do not become 

 colored until after death. To this 



