218 



THE AMEKICAN MONTHLY 



[November, 



yards in a pound of yarn of any other num- 

 ber, multiply the given number by 840, 

 thus : of No. 50 yarn there would be 50 X 

 840 = 4,200 yards in a pound. 



— We have recently received a new 

 Catalogue of Tolles microscopes, and tele- 

 scopes, the 17th edition, in which we find 

 several additions to the preceding one. 

 There is an illustration of the large " C " 

 stand, made for Dr. Blackham, in 1877, 

 and cuts of the new mechanical stage re- 

 cently introduced by Mr. Tolles. The 

 usual list of testimonials is added, such as 

 have been a feature of Mr. Tolles' Cata- 

 logues for many years. Application for 

 catalogfues should be made to Mr. C. Stod- 

 der, 131 Devonshire St., Boston. 



— It affords us great pleasure to direct 

 the special attention of our readers to the 

 preparations of the Rev. A. B. Hervey, 

 which have been advertised in this JOUR- 

 NAL for several months. Only lately we 

 have had an opportunity to examine a set 

 of six slides, and we can commend them 

 in the highest terms. 



The preparations are intended to repre- 

 sent different modes of fructification char- 

 acteristic of the red algae, each one show- 

 ing the ripened, sexual spores, which are 

 produced by one of the famihes as distin- 

 guished by Agardh. The family of Gon- 

 gylospermese, in which the spores are irre- 

 gularly packed in a cystocarp, is represented 

 by the common Ceramium sirzctum ; the 

 Cocceospermece, in which the cystocarp is 

 compound, is represented by a section of 

 Callophyllis, which shows the structure 

 quite well ; the bead-like strings of spores 

 of the Hormospermese are beautifully 

 shown on a specimen of Hyinenocladia, 

 and the cystocarp of Nitophyllum latissi- 

 mum shows the terminal spores ripening 

 in a manner characteristic of the family of 

 Hormospermeas. The Desmiospermeae 

 are represented by a fine specimen, show- 

 ing the fruit of Gelidium cartilaginum, 

 and the Corynospermese by Polysiphonia 

 variegata. 



All of these specimens are very instruc- 

 tive and, so far as we know, they are not 

 to be found among the slides sold by the 

 dealers. We hope Mr. Hervey will receive 

 many orders, for the preparations are well 

 worth the price asked for them. 



— The American Correspondence, a 

 weekly French- American diplomatic news- 

 paper, published in this city, is keenly alive 

 to the practical value of scientific research 

 and discovery, as evidenced by several ar- 



ticles which we have lately noticed in its 

 columns, one of which, relative to the mi- 

 croscopical examinations of Dr. Wood- 

 ward in connection with the wound of the 

 late President, is well worthy of mention. 

 We are glad to notice that a newspaper, 

 the columns of which are so crowded with 

 diplomatic and financial matters, can oc- 

 casionally find space for an article of a 

 scientific nature. 



— The artificial propagation of the 

 sponge promises to become a profitable 

 commercial enterprise. Professor Oscar 

 Gratz has been so successful in his prelimi- 

 nary experiments that the Austrian Govern- 

 ment has authorized the experiment on a 

 large scale on the coast of Dalmatia. In 

 the proper season, in spring, the living 

 sponge is divided, and the pieces are at- 

 tached to stakes, which are driven into the 

 sea-bottom. In about three years the 

 sponges grow to a useful size. It has been 

 found that the cost of growing 4,000 

 sponges is only about $50.00. 



—Prof. D. S. Kellicott, the Secretary of 

 the American Society of Microscopists, 

 has issued a circular, informing the mem- 

 bers of the conditions for awarding the 

 prize offered by Mr. E. H. Griffith, to " the 

 author of the best paper on the adultera- 

 tion of some important article of food or 

 medicine," a ^-inch objective, by Messrs. 

 Bausch & Lomb, at the Elmira meeting, 

 next year. We will not publish them, for 

 readers can obtain copies of the circular 

 on application to the Secretary, at Buffalo. 



— Messrs. J. W. Queen& Co. are now ad- 

 vertising some very useful novelties for 

 the microscope, including a great variety of 

 objects — double-stainings, injections,crys- 

 tals, arranged diatoms, etc., etc., and some 

 objectives and other apparatus by Zeiss. 

 Among other things we notice a set of 

 Ward's unmounted objects, prepared for 

 mounting, with directions, forty varieties 

 costing only $1.00. We would suppose 

 that these would be very useful but we 

 have not seen them. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. 



ELMIRA, N. Y. 



The first regular meeting, since vaca- 

 tion, was held at the Surgical Institute, on 

 October 27th, the President in the chair ; 

 40 visitors were present. After reading 

 of the minutes, and the election of several 

 new members. Dr. S. O. Gleason read the 



