1887.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 169 
the use of dilute acetetic acid; for a general washing fluid to remove the 
diffused hematoxylin the piece may ben treated as meee the use of borax car- 
mine. For the best sections, and particularly for the purpose of securing a 
series of sections of even Ticlsness. the paraffine method already described i is 
to be recommended (see pages 83, 84). 
For the examination of such an organ as the ‘ liver’ of the cray-fish the 
method is especially valuable because of the readiness with which the section 
may be secured to the slide; while all its (in the section) independent parts 
are held together by the parafine. For the ‘ liver’ consists of tubules free 
from each other except at their mouths, and the separate tubes when cut 
would, unless held in place on the slide by the cement, float away and their 
relations consequently be lost. 
Sections should be cut in two or three directions, and they should also be 
cut from various portions of the ‘ liver’ for the complete study of that organ. 
The section figured in connection with this particular study is a section across 
the long axis of the organ, which section illustrates more than a section in 
any other single plane could exhibit’. 
(To be continued.) 
II. 
The biological examination of water. 
By ROMYN HITCHCOCK, 
OSAKA, JAPAN. 
(Continued from page 149.) 
The apparatus for filtering the gelatin solution, which must be kept hot dur- 
ing filtration, was constructed as follows :—A tin fruit can was neatly cut off 
close to one end and a glass funnel selected that would just fit into it, leaving 
an annular space of about one-fourth of an inch between the edge of the fun- 
nel and the side of the can. A hole was then punched in the bottom of the 
can and a short tin tube soldered in to receive a cork. Through the cork a 
hole was made and the neck of the funnel pushed through it. The tin was 
then filled with hot water, which surrounded the funnel. The water was 
kept hot by conducting steam through a glass tube from a flask of boiling 
water. Asa matter of fact, this makeshift apparatus served perfectly well, 
although it was all arranged in the course of an hour. <A tinman fixed the 
can in a few minutes. Having no cork-borer, a small hole was first made 
through the cork with a Japanese boring tool and enlarged to fit the funnel 
by burning with a glass tube made red hot in the flame of a spirit-lamp. 
Then the tin, with its funnel in place, was set on a piece of cigar-box wood, 
with a hole in the middle, supported between two cigar boxes set on end. 
The flask for supplying the steam was set over an #7zbachz, a kind of char- 
coal furnace used by the Japanese for cooking and heating, and kept boiling 
briskly by piling on lighted charcoal from time to time. Another large 
hibaché stood near at hand, on which was a large tin sauce-pan nearly full 
of boiling water. The gelatin mixture was contained in a Mason fruit jar, 
which was sunk in the water, and heated for nearly an hour previous to filtra- 
tion. The filter was carefully folded, and the filtration progressed in a per- 
fectly satisfactory manner. Not having any test-tubes of suitable size, the 
filtrate was received in three sterilized flasks. 
The sterilizing oven for apparatus was nothing more than the oven of a 
kitchen stove. The flasks, tubes, and other apparatus to be sterilized, were 
put into a tin dish and slipped into the oven, where they remained as: long as 
convenient. Having no thermometer graduated above 120° F., the only guide 
as to temperature was the sense of feeling. However, to make sure that the 
