1891.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 139 



Stellate and glandular hairs of plants, the breathing pores of such 

 plants as the white lily, the translucent leaves of mosses, and the pollen 

 of flowers should not be forgotten. 



Minute seeds, with their infinite variety of form and marking, are 

 things of beauty and a joy forever. They require a condenser, but no 

 cover glass. Try the seeds of Arenaria serpyllifolia, and you will be 

 encouraged to seek further. A most delightful series of objects can be 

 easily made from the small seeds of CaryophyllaccEe. The genus 

 Euphorbia furnishes another fine series in which you can often deter- 

 mine the species by the seeds alone. Juncus gives us still another series. 

 In J. eftusus and J. bufonius the ribs and cross-lines of the seeds are 

 delicate indeed. 



The pappus of many species of composite is a charming sight 

 under the microscope, especially when the pappus is plumose, as in 

 Kuhnia, the thistles, etc. 



Most of the common grasses have plumose stigmas, which, with their 

 coloring of purple, show finely with objectives of moderate power. 

 The hairy palets of grasses make fii^st-class objects. 



Lycopodium, the powder which druggists use to keep pills, etc., 

 from sticking together, will prove of interest and is easy to obtain. It 

 consists of the spores of the common club-moss or evergreen. The 

 spores move over each other so freely that the powder in bulk shakes 

 like a liquid. To the touch it seems like an oily liquid. But under 

 the microscope it appears as innumerable yellow globes, somewhat 

 shrunken and irregular when dry. Any species of Lycopodium will 

 furnish a supply from August to October. The spores of ferns and 

 mosses are equally interesting. 



But if you wish to elicit from your audience exclamations of delight, 

 put on the slide a freshly ruptured spore-case of one of the larger Hep- 

 atic^. Marchantia, Asterella, or Conocephalus will answer. The 

 lively way in which the spiral elaters toss the spores about is sure to 

 " bring down the house." 



Diatoms you will find in abundance in the stomach of the oyster ; 

 but a more convenient source is common polishing powder, which 

 consists largely of their remains. 



Raw silk, cotton, and wool, hair, and feathers, are rich spoil for the 

 amateur exhibitor of the microscope. Common drugs, like morphine, 

 quinine, and strychnine — you need not go far for ready-made objects. 



The Seaside Assembly, School of Biology, at Avon-by-the-sea, 

 N. J., opens its eighth session on July 5, 1 891, with the following faculty : 

 Dean, George Macloskie, D. Sc, LL. D. ; Assistants, J. E. Peters, A. 

 M., D. Sc, A. M. Miller, A. M. ; Curator, Mr. D. VVatkins. The 

 study of Marine and Terrestrial forms will be taken up, and laboratory 

 practice given. Further information may be obtained by writing to Mr. 

 W. M. Alberti, Sec'y, 142 West 33d St.", New York, N. Y. 



The application of the microscope to machine-shop practice, for the 

 purpose of proving whether surfaces are true, is pronounced by experts 

 as being the best method of obtaining accuracy thus far suggested. 



