80 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [May 



underneath. Remove, and with a gentle pressure hold 

 down the cover. The bubbles will all disappear, and the 

 balsam will become hard. 



Preserving Alg^. — To preserve without shrinking 

 use Flemming's weaker solution to kill and fix the 

 specimen (10 c. c. of one per cent Osmic acid, 10 c. c. of 

 one per cent acetic acid, 25 c. c. of one per cent 

 chromic acid and 55 c. c. of distilled water). Its use for 

 from half an hour to twenty-four hours will not 

 injure delicate tissues. Add 10 per cent of glycerine, 

 allowing each drop to diffuse before adding more. 

 This will prevent the shrinking caused by diffusion 

 currents if glycerine is added too rapidly. Add the 

 glycerine until the specimen is well covered, when the 

 fixing solution has evaporated from a watch glass in 

 which they are exposed for the purpose. Red algsB 

 retain their color almost perfectly, but green algsB loose 

 more or less color although the chromatophores retain 

 their shape perfectly and the cells become clearer than 

 fresh material. 



EDITORIAL. 



Death of Alfred Allen. — Only 6 months ag-o it was nec- 

 essary to announce the discontinuance of the Journal of 

 Microscopy and Natural Science of which Mr. Allen was 

 the editor. Following close thereupon comes the report 

 of his death, March 24, at the age of 64. He was long Sec- 

 retary of the Postal Microscopical Club of England — about 

 25 years. Thus "microscopists" are falling away and no 

 new men arising to take their places as "microscopists." 

 The users of the instrument are biologists, bacteriologists, 

 doctors, etc. 



The Souring of Canned Sweet Corn. — Since 1853 has 

 arisen the corn-canning industry which resulted in 1895 

 in a pack of 72,000,000 two-pound cans — a total weight of 



