1887. ] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 37 
- In order to carry out the above the following is announced officially :— 
1. Subject of the Essay, Hay-Fever. (a) Its pathology. (b) The predisposing, and 
the aggravating causes. (c) Advice to the sufferer. j 
2. The Essay not to exceed four thousand words, and to be as practical and non- 
technical as possible. 
3. The manuscripts to be received at the office of Samuel Lockwood, Freehold, New 
Jersey, not later than April 30, 1887. 
4. Each manuscript to have a Motto under the Title, and to be accompanied with a 
sealed letter containing said Motto, also the name and address of the author. These 
letters not to be opened until after the award is decided. 
5. The prize to be $25. The accepted essay to be published immediately in the 
Association’s annual report, one hundred copies to be given the author. 
6. The Committee of Award :—Samuel Lockwood, Chairman of Committee on Scien- 
tific Facts; Frank B. Fay, President U.S. H. F. A.; Charles C. Dawson, Secretary 
Desseok A. 
Respectfully yours, SAMUEL LOCKWOOD, 
Chairman of Committee on Scientific Facts. 
FREEHOLD, N. J., January 15, 1887. 
O 
To THE EpiTor: I see in January number of Journal, Prof. Hitchcock states that 
he has searched many a time at home for the very peculiar diatom Baczl/laria paradoxa 
without finding it, and perhaps others may have failed to find it. Last August, while 
collecting algee and diatoms near Morris’ Cove, New Haven Harbor, I found the 
above-named diatom quite plentiful and vigorous in the salt marshes back of Fort 
Hale; but the most remarkable specimens were found while dredging in Morris’ Cove 
in about twenty-five feet of water at low tide. They were so plentiful that a drop of 
sediment would contain fifteen or twenty groups, each consisting of thirty to fifty indi- 
viduals, as near as I recollect, and so very active that it was difficult to count them ; 
they would stretch out almost instantaneously to a length of more than ten times the 
diameter of the field of view, then as rapidly contract to extend again in the opposite 
direction. The cumulative effect of their individual motions was such as to cause the 
ends of the line to move with violence and sufficient force to dash all obstacles out of 
the way. The specimens from the salt marshes were not so large nor nearly so active, 
having periods of rest, while these appeared constantly in motion. In the same gath- 
ering were varieties of Triceratium, Actznoplychus rendulata (plentiful), Poscinodiscus, 
from minute varieties to quite large; six or eight varieties of Pleurosigma, of which 
P. balticum was the largest; but a variety of about the same length, but thinner than 
P. angulatum, and with different markings, was the most active. I think the speed 
of diatoms has been underrated. Carpenter says that the motion of Surirella, etc., con- 
sists of a languid roll. I find that freshly gathered and vigorous Surirellas, Stauroneis, 
Pymbellas, Pleurosigmas, etc., will move a distance equal to their length in from one 
to two seconds; a motion far from languid, and rivaling or surpassing the best steam- 
boats in relative speed. 
Yours truly, Ws. A. TERRY. 
BRISTOL, CONN., January 21st, 1887. 
——o 
JANUARY 24, ’86. 
- To THE EpIToR :—As you say in the January /ourvna/ that you would be pleased to 
hear from your readers on Reeves’ method, ‘I take my pen in hand :’— 
It struck me on reading his method that it was very long, and the number of opera- 
tions to be gone through would leave the sections in a very dilapidated condition, unless 
one is satisfied with one or two sections for an evening’s work, or mounts sections for 
_ the sake of mounting them. I have been long troubled to get really good sections of 
embryo chicks. Alcohol as a hardener is too energetic for such delicate tissue, and 
chromic acid and Mueller’s fluid takes so long that the tissue becomes granular on the 
outside before itis hardened throughout. Last Friday I placed some eight-day embryos 
in alcohol about 80% ; Saturday evening I placed them in cold turpentine, which was 
gradually warmed on a water-bath to about 100° Fahr.—the embryo cleared up in about 
15 to 20 minutes; then placed them in the melted paraffine according to Reeves, until 
the bubbles stopped rising ; then acast was made. As soon asit was cool I cut sections 
with that splendid instrument, Bausch & Lomb’s microtome, 5,5, inch thick or thin. 
As soon as the section was cut I dropped it, paraffine and all, into an alcoholic solution 
of eosin. Contrary to my expectations it stained beautifully, notwithstanding the tissue 
