238 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[DecemberJ 



the sponge shown me by Prof. Remsen is 

 like that of the water, strongly intensified. 

 ALPHEUS HYATT. 



We cannot extend this notice, al- 

 though our personal interest in the 

 subject inclines us to do so. It seems 

 clear that Prof. Remsen has at last 

 discovered the cause of the cucum- 

 ber taste in the Boston water, — it now 

 remains to devise a remedy for the 

 trouble. 



Report on Croton Water. — 

 Professor Elwyn Waller, Ph. D., che- 

 mist to the Health Department of 

 this city, has made a valuable report 

 embracing the results of weekly exam- 

 inations of Croton water during the 

 years 1876 and 1877. The chemical 

 analyses are given in full for each 

 week, in a table. In regard to the 

 odors of Croton water, it appears 

 from the report that, as early as the 

 year 1859, Dr. Torrey was called 

 upon to report upon the odor then 

 observed for the first time. We have 

 no doubt that the plants alluded to 

 in his report were Coelosphcerium and 

 Anabcena, both of which have been 

 very abundant this year. As the 

 result of considerable correspondence, 

 it has been found that more than sixty 

 towns are occasionally more or less 

 troubled by the odor of the water sup- 

 plied to them, and the characteristics 

 of the waters furnished them are 

 briefly described in the report. 

 o 



Mr. Balen's Living Specimens. — 

 We need not apologize for inviting 

 once more the attention of our readers 

 to Mr. Balen's efforts to furnish living 

 specimens of infusoria for study. He 

 has at last decided to advertise his 

 specimens, which will be furnished at 

 a reasonable price, hoping to esta- 

 blish a small business in this way 

 which will be of benefit to both him- 

 self and to those who subscribe for his 

 collections. We take pleasure in say- 

 ing that he has a remarkably rich 

 field for collecting, near his residence 

 in Plainfield, and such gatherings as 

 we have seen have been well worth 



the prices asked for them. Societies 

 would do well to order some tubes! 

 for exhibition at their meetings. 



Prizes. — The Boston Society of| 

 Natural History offers a first prize oii 

 from $60.00 to $100.00, and a secon( 

 of $50.00, for the best memoirs in^ 

 English on the following subjects 



April, 1882. — The occurrence, mi- 

 croscopic structure, and use of North| 

 American fibre-plants. Treating es- 

 pecially of the fibres employed by thai 

 native races. 



April, 1883. — Original unpublished 

 investigations respecting the life-his- 

 tory of any animal. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



To the Editor: — I have just made 

 myself a parabolic illuminator, which, as 

 it costs but a triffe, I think may be of in- 

 terest to some of your readers. 



Taking my l>^-inch objective (any 

 other suitable power will do as well), I 

 wound a clean copper wire of ^\-inch di- 

 ameter closely around the base three 

 times, twisting and bending the ends for 

 a length sufficient to reach a little beyond 

 the end of the objective. I then cut a 

 section of about half an inch from the 

 bowl of a new, plated teaspoon, and 

 soldered the convex side to the ends of the 

 wire, also making the loop solid with 

 solder, and filing it up to a good fit and 

 figure, so that it would slip easily on and 

 off the objective. The objective was then 

 focussed on a slide and the reflector ad- 

 justed, by bending the wire, until it gave 

 very good results with parallel rays. Thus 

 I have a handy and useful piece of appa- 

 ratus, at the cost of the spoon, 30 cents. 

 Mr. E. H. Griffith, of Fairport, N. Y., 

 gave me the notion of utilizing a spoon 

 for this purpose. 



W. H. TiVY. 



[After the above article was in type we 

 received a communication from Mr. E. H. 

 Griffith describing the same instrument, 

 which, as Mr. Tivy states, is original with 

 Mr. Griffith. W^e regret that his descrip- 

 tion did not reach us sooner, for we would 

 then have printed it. Another article 

 from Mr. Griffith will be printed next 

 month, describing his method of making 

 cells. — Ed.] 



