S2 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [April, 



The admission fee is tliree dollars, and the annual dues, which have 

 sufficed to carry on the work of publication, to pay for extensive re- 

 searches in micrometry, and to meet the ordinary expenditures of the 

 Society, have been kept at the moderate sum of two dollars. As the 

 annual fee entitles the membei's to a copy of the proceedings, worth in 

 some instances more than this amount, it is reasonably urged that all 

 workers with the microscope should secure membership. 



Application for membership or inquiries may be made to the Presi- 

 dent, Dr. Geo. E. Fell, Buffalo, N. Y. ; Vice-Presidents Prof. W. H. 

 Seaman, Washington, D. C, and F. W. Kuhne, Esq., Fort Wayne, 

 Ind. ; the Secretary, Prof. T. J. Burrill, Champaign, 111. ; the Treas- 

 urer and Custodian, C. C. Mellor, Esq.. Pittsburgh, Pa., or to the mem- 

 bers of the Executive Board, Dr. W. P. Manton, Detroit, Mich. ; Dr. 

 F. L. James, St. Louis, Mo., and W. H. Walmsley, Esq., Philadel- 

 phia, Pa., these gentlemen constituting the officers of the Society. 



It is, perhaps, needless to state that the active microscopists of De- 

 troit will provide ample entertainment to the Society, and that reduced 

 rates of travel will be provided for all who attend. The scientific as- 

 pect of the meeting is ah'eady assured, as more than a score of valuable 

 papers have l:ieen pi'omised. 



How to Clean Old Slides and Utilize Spoiled Mounts.* 



By Dr. H. M. WHELPLEY, F. R. M. S. 



For two years past I have permitted soiled slides and spoiled mounts 

 to accumulate in a box set aside for that purpose. The process I have 

 recently followed in reclaiming them has been successful. 



I first placed the unsightly rubbish in a dish of clean water where it 

 remained until all of the labels were readily removed ; with an old knife 

 I next scraped oft' the cells and all cement that could be easily removed 

 in this manner. All slides where glycerine or other substance soluble 

 in water had been used as a mounting medium wei'e again washed, and 

 then the entire pile spread out and dried. I separated those that were 

 clean and placed the rest in alcohol for several days. This solvent 

 cleaned another portion of the slides so that all the}' required to render 

 them as good as new was a washing in water. The remaining dirty ones . 

 were treated to a bath of oil ot turpentine, where they rested for a few 

 days. From this they were washed with alcohol and then finished in 

 water. The few refractory ones that held out during all this time were 

 made as clean as ever with benzol. 



Although considerable time elapsed before the last slide was cleaned, 

 it required but a few minutes of actual labor in the entire process. The 

 time consumed is in letting them stand in the different liquids. Nor is 

 the process expensive, as the oil of turpentine did most of the work. 

 Hereafter I shall divide my old slides into three classes and clean them 

 separately so that less alcohol will be recpiired. The first box will con- 

 tain slides that can be washed clean with water. The second lot will 

 be those that alcohol will clean, and the third the ones requiring benzol. 



Cover-glasses are so cheap that I do not save them unless they are 

 easily cleaned with water. I find it very difficult to properly clean thin 

 cover-glasses that have cement on them. 



* Read at the St. Louis Club of Microscopists. 



