1881.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



Among other striking objects we 

 have an abundance of Melicerta, 

 which is among the most beautiful of 

 the Rotatoria, and Stentor is occasion- 

 ally found. Spherical masses of 

 jelly, attached to submerged stems, 

 of a light green color and varying 

 from very minute particles to over a 

 quarter of an inch in diamter are 

 abundant. They are algae of the 

 genus Chcetophora. When examined 

 under the microscope they are found 

 to consist of a colorless mass of jelly, 

 within which is a mass of green fila- 

 ments, radiating from the centre to 

 the surface of the sphere, in a very 

 regular manner. By crushing them 

 the mode of branching can be studied. 

 Many other interesting specimens 

 were found in this collection. At the 

 last meeting of the New York Micro- 

 scopical Society, Mr. Balen exhibited 

 a large number of beautiful living ob- 

 jects, which added much to the inter- 

 est of the meeting. Conochillus vol- 

 vox, a spherical colony of active roti- 

 fers, was shown in perfection, and the 

 beautiful floscule with its long radia- 

 ting appendages ; Pectitiatella spread- 

 ing its ciliated tentacles which sparkled 

 brilliantly on a dark field, and another 

 zoophyte, Plinnatella ; Lacintilaria j 

 Volvox globator swimming about and 

 illuminated by oblique light, Corethra 

 plumicoriiis with the gorgeous colors 

 developed by polarized light, all these 

 were shown and greatly admired, 

 both by members and visitors. Liv- 

 ing Bacillaria pa7'adoxa was also shown 

 by one of the members of the society. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



To THE Editor; — In the September 

 number of the American Monthly 

 Microscopical Journal, an article by 

 C. M. Vorce, F. R. M. S., calls attention 

 to the " Destruction of Acari by a Fun- 

 gus." Last spring the drinking water of 

 this city had a marked fishy smell and 

 taste, and contained the crustacean 

 Cyclops, dead and alive, in abundance ; 

 those which were dead were permeated 

 by a mycelium, appearing very coarse 



under a X-inch objective, restricted to the 

 animalcule ; were the fishy odor and taste 

 attributable to the defunct crustacean ? 

 N. G. Keirle, Sr. 



[The odor and taste to which our cor- 

 respondent alludes, are supposed to be 

 caused by the decay of certain algae, and 

 it hardly seems possible that it could come 

 from the Cyclops, as suggested. It may 

 be that the crustaceans were killed by the 

 impurity of the water, after which the 

 fungus developed on the dead specimens. 

 —Ed.] 



NOTES. 



— It can hardly be considered as 

 creditable to any person to circulate false 

 reports about the standing of persons in 

 business. Reports have been circulated 

 in some sections of the country, by whom 

 we do not know, calculated to injure the 

 business of Messrs. J. W. Sidle & Co. We 

 take occasion to say that we are assured, by 

 one of the members of that firm, that the 

 reports which have occasionally reached 

 us from distant quarters, are utterly with- 

 out foundation, and that their business is 

 prosperous. 



— Prof. W. A. Rogers, of whose recent 

 serious illness we regret to learn, has 

 nevertheless accomplished some good re- 

 sults with his ruling machine. He has 

 now a decimetre, upon a steel bar, divided 

 into 10,000 equal parts, and beside it, 

 four inches, also subdivided into 10.000 

 equal parts. 



—J. J. M. Angear, A. M., M. D., Pro- 

 fessor of Pysiology and Pathology in the 

 College of Physicians and Surgeons at 

 Keokuk, and President of the Microscopi- 

 cal section of the Iowa State Medical 

 Society, has accepted the Editorship of 

 the Microscopical and Pathological De- 

 partment of The Western Medical Re- 

 porter. 



—A striking illustration of the amplifi- 

 cation obtained by a microscope, is given 

 in the pamphlet by Dr. C. S. Dolley, 

 noticed in another column. The passage 

 referred is as follows : — 



"The strongest of our magnifying lenses, 

 the immersion system of Hartnack, gives 

 a magnifying power of from 3,000 to 4,000 

 diameters ; and could we view a man 

 under such a lens, he would appear as 

 large as Mont Blanc, or even Chimborazo, 



