June 12, 19 13] 



NATURE 



0/ 1 



Another great step in advance has recently been 

 made. We have received from Messrs. Leitz, a 

 German firm which produces perhaps more micro- 

 scopes than any other, two models designed with 

 a view to incorporate the most important features 

 of the English and Continental models. 



In one the tripod base is well spread, is excep- 

 tionally rigid, in the horizontal as well as the 

 vertical position, and allows of free access to the 

 substage. The substage is of the compound type, 

 consisting of rack and pinion focussing adjust- 

 ment, with centering screws controlling condenser 

 sleeve, which is of the Royal Microscopical Society 

 standard gauge. The stage is of the square fixed 

 type, and may be provided with a detachable 

 mechanical stage. The curved limb allows of 

 additional working space on the stage and incident- 

 ally forms a convenient handle for lifting the 

 microscope. The fine adjustment consists of the 

 cam and worm screw continuous motion, originally 

 introduced in the Leitz Continental microscopes, 

 coarse adjustment being by diagonal rack and 

 pinion, and draw-tube with millimeter scale. 



The other form is similar, but it is fitted with 

 a mechanical stage forming an integral part of the 

 instrument. The stage is provided with anterior, 

 posterior, and lateral movements of greater range 

 than is generally found in similar models, and is 

 controlled by two milled heads mounted upon one 

 spindle. The stage is also provided with milli- 

 meter scales and verniers reading to i/io mm. 

 (1/250 inch). 



A model on the above lines, but of much larger 

 dimensions and having a wide body-tube, is 

 particularly valuable in photomicrography. It is 

 stated that these new models are made in the 

 firm's London workshop. 



But Messrs. Leitz, we now find, are not the only 

 firm which is endeavouring to make stands as 

 complete as possible in the way of adjustment. 

 We have received from Messrs. Angus, the 

 London agents of the Spencer Company of the 

 United States, one of their latest models, which is 

 admirably designed and worked out, and in it 

 we find the English arrangement for the centering 

 of the substage, as well as the German device for 

 oblique illumination. 



In these new models furnished by Leitz and 

 Spencer, then, we find the maximum of adjust- 

 ing power, and on this account they may 

 be considered to be universal instruments, 

 and it should not be forgotten that this universal 

 quality of adjustment need not necessarily be con- 

 fined to instruments of the largest size. The 

 mechanical stage and the oblique illumination de- 

 vice may be made much lighter than they generally 

 are, and the Spencer model shows how space 

 may be saved by mounting- the two screws of the 

 former on a vertical spindle. 



One of the great outstanding differences, then, 

 remaining at present between the English and 

 Continental microscopes is the absence of the 

 simple oblique illumination device in the former. 

 Regarding the use of this we are aware there are 

 manv different opinions. 



NO. 2276. VOL. 91] 



NOTES. 

 It is officially announced that the King has become 

 patron of the Entomological Society of London. 



At the meeting of the Chemical Society, held on 

 Thursday, June 5, Prof. Dmitri Petrovitsch Konova- 

 loff, of St. Petersburg, and Prof. Alfred Werner, of 

 Zurich, were elected honorary and foreign members 

 of the Chemical Society. 



The annual conversazione of the Royal Society of 

 Arts will be held on Tuesday next, June 17, at the 

 Natural History Museum, South Kensington, and that 

 of the Institution of Electrical Engineers will be held 

 at the same place on Thursday, June 26. 



The trustees of the British Museum have agreed 

 to undertake the publication of the natural history 

 results of Capt. Scott's Antarctic expedition. The 

 work of publication will be carried out at the Natural 

 History Museum, South Kensington. It is understood 

 that on the arrival of the Terra Nova in this country 

 the collections will be sent in the first place to the 

 Natural History Museum. 



The Cannizzaro prize of 10,000 lire, founded by the 

 late Dr. Ludwig Mond, has been awarded by the 

 Reale Accademia dei Lincei, of Rome, to Mr. 

 Frederick Soddy, F.R.S., lecturer in physical chem- 

 istry at the University of Glasgow, for his researches 

 in radio-activity. The presentation of the prize took 

 place in the Capitol on June 1, in the presence of his 

 Majesty the King of Italy. 



The annual 'general meeting - of the Research 

 Defence Society will be held on Tuesday, June 24, 

 at five o'clock, at the Royal College of Physicians, 

 Pall Mall. The chair will be taken by Sir David 

 Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S., president of the society. The 

 report will be presented by the Hon. Sydney Holland, 

 chairman of committee. Other speakers will be Sir 

 William Osier, regius professor of medicine at Oxford; 

 Bishop Frodsham, sometime Bishop of North Queens- 

 land; and Mr. Waldorf Astor, M.P. 



The death is announced of Dr. Forbes Winslow in 

 his seventieth year. Dr. Winslow was known as a 

 specialist in lunacy, and founded the British Hospital 

 for Mental Disorders. He was the author of numerous 

 works on mental diseases and kindred subjects, among 

 them being "The History of Lunacy Legislation," 

 "Manual of Lunacy," "The Suggestive Power of 

 Hypnotism," and "The Criminal Responsibility of the 

 Insane." For eight years he was editor of The 

 Psychological Journal. 



The death is announced, in his sixty-third year, of 

 Mr. W. McMurtrie, the predecessor of Dr. Wiley In 

 the post of chief chemist to the U.S. Department of 

 Agriculture. Mr. McMurtrie had served for some 

 years as assistant chemist before his appointment to 

 that office in 1873. In 1882 he left Washington and 

 became professor of chemistry at the L'niversity of 

 Illinois. While holding the latter post he was also 

 chemist to the Illinois State Board of Agriculture. 

 Of late years he had been a consulting chemist in 

 New York. He was the author of monographs on the 



