1891.] MICEOSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 229 



cave. Investigations, not mentioned in the foregoing, show that cotton 

 that has not been manvifactured, crude yarn still retaining the oil, warps 

 and twists under heat, and displays more tendency to increase in volume 

 than manufactured cotton free.from oil. 



Linen and Flax. — There appear to be no marked structural changes 

 in these fibres. The ends of a fibre burned in two and cleaned by rub- 

 bing are conical in shape and opaque for a short distance back. When 

 not cleaned the end is rounded and has a more or less enlarged head of 

 carbon attached. Occasionally the fibres split at the end. 



Silk Fibre. — The fibre twists and warps under the eftect of heat. 

 If the latter be great, it seems to melt, and several fibres will fuse to- 

 gether. A brown discoloration is produced by contact with flame in 

 all cases, and this becomes black where the flame is intense. At the 

 ends of fibres exposed (as in silk velvet) to an instantaneous jet of flame, 

 sometimes a small round or roundish knob is formed. In all fabrics, of 

 whatever fibre made, the looser the weaving the more deeply the ma- 

 terial is affected by an instantaneous flame jet. The smoother and 

 closer the surface the less the effect and the more difficult the task of 

 detecting old scorches where the surfaces have been rubbed. 



These, gentlemen and ladies, are an outline of my work, and a sum- 

 mary of results. Commencing with a deep conviction of the guilt of 

 the accused, my investigations led me first to doubt the correctness of 

 this conviction, and afterward convinced me of his innocence. They 

 enabled me to go into the court-room and to pi'O've to the satisfaction of 

 eleven men out of a jury of twelve that the prisoner at the bar, instead 

 of an execrable villain, was the miserable victim of circumstances. 



It was my intention to place these results graphically before you in 

 the shape of photographs or colored drawings, but for many months 

 past I have been forbidden the use of my eyes for any such work. In- 

 deed, since New Year's da}'^, up to within a fortnight, the use of the 

 microscope itself has been interdicted. An attack of grippe, from the 

 effects of which I have not yet fully recovered, left my eyes so seriously 

 affected that any attempt to use them for more than two or three min- 

 utes at a time was always followed by severe and lasting pain. 



With warm weather great amelioration has come, and I will soon be 

 enabled to prepai'e the drawings for the next volume of proceedings. 



A New Medium for Mounting Starches and Pollens. 



By a. p. brown, Ph. G., 



CAMDEN, N, J. 



Having occasion to mount a variety of starches for examination 

 under the microscope, I have been looking for a suitable medium that 

 would best show the structure and at the same time preserve the speci- 

 men. The students of the class of Microscopy at the Philadelphia Col- 

 lege of Pharmacy are desirous of preserving the different starches that are 

 given to them for examination during the course ; but until I'ecently I 

 have not been able to give them, for mounting of starches, pollens, 

 and similar vegetable substances, a medium that would have the ad- 

 vantage of showing the structure of the specimen after it had been fin- 



