1884.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



55 



gled. When this hardens, the sec- 

 tions ma}^ be cut, and isolated by 

 treatment with diluted hydrochloric 

 acid. The large Plnnularia is a 

 good species to begin with. 

 o 



Micro-organisms and Disease. 

 — The Scientijic Aitierican reprints 

 an article from the Sanitary Eitgi- 

 neer with the above heading, in which 

 we ' read : " It is a shame that while 

 these investigations are being pushed 

 in Germany, France, and Great Brit- 

 ain, nothing of the sort is going on 

 in this country." It is, rather, a 

 shame that such assertions should be 

 made in newspapers that ought to 

 give more correct information. The 

 fact is, a great deal of work is being 

 done in this country in the investiga- 

 tion of the micro-organisms of disease. 

 It is true the National Board of Health 

 has been obliged, for want of money, 

 to interrupt its work, which was of 

 great value and importance, and this 

 is to be regretted. But the readers 

 of this Journal know that observers 

 are not idle in this country, and if 

 the writer of the article referred to 

 w^ill look over the volumes of the 

 Reports of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, he will find some of the best 

 work that has yet been done upon 

 diseases of animals, fully described 

 and illustrated. It seems time that 

 the scientific value of this work should 

 be recognized, and if scientific men 

 generally would come to believe 

 that there may some good thing coine 

 out of the pages of the Reports of the 

 Department of Agriculture, and w^ould 

 occasionally read those reports, their 

 value would soon be recognized. It 

 is a matter of regret that so much 

 really excellent work should be al- 

 lowed to go almost unrecognized by 

 observers working in the same field. 



It is also true that, while compara- 

 tively little has been published as yet 

 by private investigators in this coun- 

 try, there is much work in progress, 

 the results of which will doubtless be 

 of great value. American observers 

 are deeply interested in all that relates 



to contagious diseases. Dr. D. E. 

 Salmon has been working steadily 

 upon the subject. Dr. J. C. Mc- 

 Connell is working on the bacillus 

 of tubercle at the Army Medical 

 Museum, Dr. J. H. Kidder, U. S. 

 N., is continuing his investigations 

 of air at the National Museum, Dr. 

 G. M. Sternberg is constantly at 

 work with his microscope when other 

 duties permit, and many other names 

 might be added to the list. 



That such investigations deserve 

 more encouragement and support 

 from the Government no person who 

 knows their value will deny. If the 

 microscope could only be employed 

 to discover the germs which cause 

 lesions in the body politic. Congress 

 would immediately appropriate the 

 funds necessary for the thorough in- 

 vestigation of their life-history and of 

 the best agents for their extermina- 

 tion. 



Charles Stodder.* — Not many 

 microscopists who have visited Bos- 

 ton and met there the late Charles 

 Stodder will ever forget the enthusi- 

 astic microscopist w^ho has been so 

 closely associated with the later life 

 of Mr. Tolles. Mr. Stodder was a 

 remarkable character. He was doubt- 

 less as well known throughout the 

 world as was Mr. Tolles, for wher- 

 ever a Tolles lens was found Mr. 

 Stodder was sure to be known. His 

 name appears frequently in the vol- 

 umes of the English and American 

 microscopical journals, and his fre- 

 quently used signature, "Carl Red- 

 dots " is familiar to many readers. 

 Although his contributions to scien- 

 tific literature have not brought him 

 great fame, for which he seems not 

 to have aspired, he was a careful 

 reader of all articles relating to im- 

 provements of the microscope. His 

 memory was very retentive, espec- 

 ially relating to improvements of the 

 microscope, and his acquaintance 



*This article was prepared for an earlier 

 number of the Journal, but the copy was 

 mislaid and overlooked. 



