1891.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 13 



varnish or the body of the insect, it is readily removed, wiped, and 

 replaced. It is always a good plan to mount opaque objects after this 

 manner. 



Not the least interesting study is that of the parasites of different birds 

 and animals. They may be found in infinite variety, every host being 

 the entertainer of strange and wondrous forms of life. A reference to 

 Denny's Monograph will afford some insight into the abundance of 

 parasites infesting animal life, all of which can be readily mounted in 

 balsam, after a preliminary clearing in carbolic acid. It is only neces- 

 sary to take a canary cage infested with " lice," when an extensive 

 gathering may be made of the Derjiianyssus avium. Examine a 

 pigeon or domestic fowl, and numbers of its parasites can be got. If 

 a bird or a small animal is killed, and whilst -svarm is placed on a sheet 

 of white paper, its parasites will begin to leave as the body cools, and 

 may then be readily collected. The acaridss or mites present an infi- 

 nite variety of beautiful forms, which an examination of the splendid 

 Monograph published by the Ray Society will testify. 



Reports on the Postal-Club Boxes. — XI. 



By queen MAB. 



The efficient management of the Postal Club during the past year 

 has secured for it the usual degree of prosperity. Twenty-three has 

 been the number of circuits into which the membership has been 

 divided, and these have received from twelve to seventeen boxes each. 

 The absence of notes from the appendix rendered this report somewhat 

 briefer than usual. This is to be regretted, as these appendices are 

 valuable for reference. It is hoped that the next appendix will be 

 unusually good, and contain the notes contributed during two years. 

 A list of members just issued is of much value. 



Box R is of more than usual interest, because of the unusual fullness 

 of its notes and the number of its illustrations. This last feature, the 

 illustrations, is worthy of more general adoption. Drawings or photo- 

 micographs in these days of cheapened and simplified apparatus are 

 practicable for every one. Dr. S. G. Shanks — " S. G. S." — and other 

 expert microscopists have done much to aid beginners by their explan- 

 ations of the various preparations in plain, untechnical language. In 

 describing contributions, details, succinctly stated, are very useful. 

 What is a plain, every-day fact to one individual, may be quite outside 

 the horizon of another. 



No. I. Intestinal Worm of Fish. — J. Michels, of New York, says : 

 " There was an outcry in the New York papers about Trichina 

 spiralis being found in large numbers in fish. As these parasites ai'e 

 not found in cold-blooded animals I knew the report to be absurd, but 

 I went to Fulton market to find what the trouble was. I found that 

 many fish were loaded with countless numbers of the form shown in 

 the slide. It seems to be a harmless Entozoa of the order Nernatodea, 

 and as it appears only in the intestinal tract, it would be removed when 

 the fish was cleaned — not much like a Trichina." The Connecticut 

 river shad has long been renowned as a toothsome fish, but has been a 

 tabooed one on the writer's. table since witnessing the writhing mass 



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