^o ' The West American Scientist. 



bris from the surface of the specimen without injuring the delicate 

 portions. This the gentleman accompHshed by the aid of albu- 

 men, flowing the white of an ^^% over the object and immersing 

 the slide in hot water till the albumen is coagulated, when it will 

 generally crack open and may be removed in two portions carry- 

 ing with it all the foreign matter and leav.ng the surface of the 

 specimen perfectly clean. Another thing strongly advocated is 

 thorough washing of the objects in running water and a final 

 rinsing in either filtered or distilled water before placing in 

 alcohol. 



In mounting, the insect is placed under the cover glass ar- 

 ranged in proper shape, the clearing solution applied, and when 

 sufficiently transparent the oil of cloves is drained away and 

 Canada balsam introduced at one edge of the cover glass, the 

 slide being held over the flame of a lamp to gently warm the bal- 

 sam and allow it to flow in and displace the remaining oil of 

 cloves. No annoyance need be felt at the presence of bubbles of 

 air, as they all will gradually disappear. The mount, when filled 

 with balsam, is placed in a warm oven or incubator and kept at 

 a temperature of from 120° to 130° Fahrenheit for twenty-four 

 hours, when the balsam will be thoroughly hardened and all the 

 air bubbles driven out. 



Mr. Lickenby does not advocate the use of volatile solvents 

 with balsam, he being convinced that a certain amount of gas is 

 always retained in the mount in a latent state, requiring only a 

 slight amount of heat to produce bubbles and disfigure the speci- 

 men. The outer skeleton of insects is composed of a substance 

 called chitine, which is quite unique in its chemical composition. 

 It appears to be, within certain limits, very resistant to acids and 

 alkalis, and it is owing to this fact that caustic potash can be 

 used in such varying proportions in treating them for microscop- 

 ical study. It is said, however, that chititie succumbs to the ac- 

 tion of chlorine compounds, which would render that substance 

 unfit for use in bleaching many of the delicate forms. 



May 8, 1889. — The microscope has scored another point in 

 bringing to light the hidden treasurers of the Golden State. 

 Among the visitors present were A. W. Craig and W. E. Brain- 

 bridge. The latter gentleman gave a good description and ex- 

 hibited samples of a remarkable find located by him in Ventura 

 county, near the head of the Sespe river. It consists of what is 

 called "gem sand", which, when examined with a power of about 

 fifty diameters, is seen to consist largely of garnets, zirconite and 

 what parties to whom the material was submitted in the Eastern 

 States pronounced to be diamonds. 



The gems, to be sure are small, appearing only the size of a 

 rape seed when magnified fifty diameters, but the presence of 

 such quantities of minute stones surely indicates the existence of 

 larger members of the same family. 



