1884.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



15 



Society, gave the following testimony, 

 which is copied from the Th7ies of 

 Dec. 22d. Mr. Braman said : — 



" I have used the microscope for 

 thirty years. I have studied the gen- 

 eral subject of rock surfaces. Dr. 

 Barnard asked me last spring if I 

 would undertake the microscopic ex- 

 amination of the surfaces of the stat- 

 ues in the Cesnola collection. I spent 

 two hours a day in examining them 

 during April and May ; I spent a 

 week during the summer and about 

 five hours a day since October loth 

 last. I am able to distinguish between 

 a surface freshly cut and a surface that 

 has been corroded by burial. 



' ' The Cypriote stone whereof these 

 statues are sculptured is a cellular, 

 calcareous tufa. The cells are mi- 

 nute and crowded. There are about 

 1,500 to the square inch. They 

 are spherical in shape, and about 

 i-ioo of an inch in diameter. When 

 freshly cut, it will be found that the 

 walls of soine cells are harder than 

 the walls of others. The hard walls 

 resist the effect of the atmosphere 

 with more success than the softer 

 ones. During exposure these soft 

 spaces sink first, and leave the hard 

 ones standing like craters on the face 

 of the moon. The soft spaces sink 

 into dome-like shapes, and sinall ori- 

 fices indicate that the atmosphere has 

 begun to affect them. Then the cups 

 thus formed are carried away, the hard 

 projections roll oft'in small globes, and 

 the process recommences. Each pro- 

 cess occupies several centuries. In 

 the case of buried objects in Cyprus 

 the water filtering through the ground 

 makes a deposit on them, more or less 

 thick, of carbonate of lime. I have 

 given seven or eight hours to the mi- 

 croscopic examination of the statuette 

 of Venus, and it is susceptible of sci- 

 entific demonstration that the surface 

 of the so-called mirror and the sur- 

 rounding surface are ancient. On 

 the mirror are eight stipples of car- 

 bonate of lime, deposited in the way 

 I have stated, which are an integral 

 part of the ancient surface, and would 



not appear on a freshly cut surface. 

 These evidences of antiquity could 

 not be taken away without bi'eaking 

 the stone. They fill the cavities 

 whereof I have spoken. They ap- 

 pear on the surface of the drapery 

 within three-sixteenths of an, inch of 

 the mirror's outline. My microscope 

 would have disclosed cement i-iooo 

 of an inch in thickness." 



Glycerin in Mounting. — There 

 can be no question that glycerin is a 

 valuable mounting medium, either 

 alone or mixed with different propor- 

 tions of water. Nevertheless, we are 

 unable to commend it universally. 

 On the contrary, \\^e are led to doubt 

 if it is so generally useful as some 

 persons would have us believe. There 

 are serious objections to its use with 

 certain delicate animal tissues, unless 

 it be mixed with some hardening 

 agent — such as alcohol — which will 

 counteract its tendency to produce a 

 granular appearance in the tissue. 

 The worst feature of glycerin-mount- 

 ed specimens is the tendency to be- 

 come granular. No more striking 

 instance of this can be seen than in 

 mounts of zoophytes killed with ex- 

 tended tentacles. If glycerin be used 

 for mounting them they lose their 

 character entirely, and nothing but a 

 granular mass is left to suggest the 

 appearance of tentacles. This, to be 

 sure, is a severe test, for it is not easy 

 to preserve such delicate organs in a 

 condition resembling that of life. But 

 the same effect may be seen in other 

 specimens. Those who prepare his- 

 tological specimens frequently ob- 

 serve the same effect. Dr. Lionel 

 Beale has recommended glycerin as 

 one of the best mediums for mount- 

 ing such specimens. We are at a loss 

 to account for the great discrepancies 

 in the testimony concerning this sub- 

 ject. No one would question Dr. 

 Beale's testimony as regards his own 

 preparations. All must admit that in 

 his hands glycerin has proved to be 

 an invaluable agent for almost every 

 histological specimen. The fact re- 



