250 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 998 



terian College at Montreal, $60,000, and to 

 Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, $100,- 

 000. In addition to this sum he bequeathed to 

 the Royal Victoria Hospital at Montreal $500,- 

 000, and to hospitals in the British Isles, $90,- 

 000. The bequest to Yale University is 

 for the promotion of tlie modern sciences, and for 

 instruction in the practical questions arising from 

 the application of scientific knowledge to the in- 

 dustrial, social and economical problems of the 

 times, it being my special desire to have the said 

 sum expended so far as in the opinion of my trus- 

 tees may be deemed advisable for instruction in 

 civil and mechanical engineering, with special ref- 

 erence to the construction, equipment and opera- 

 tien of transportation of passengers and freight, 

 whether by land or water, and the financial and leg- 

 islative questions involved. 



Through the will of the late Mrs. Elizabeth 

 Mattox, of Terre Haute, the sum of $45,000 

 will be added to the general endowment of 

 De Pauw University. 



Mrs. Willum Porter Herrick, widow of 

 the late William Porter Herrick, has given to 

 the University of Colorado, $5,000, to be used 

 as an aid fund for worthy students. 



Sir Hildred Carlile, M. P., has given $500,- 

 000 to Bedford College, London, as a memorial 

 to his mother, Mrs. Edward Carlile. 



Dr. Hugo Frommsdorff, on the occasion of 

 the fiftieth anniversary of his doctorate, has 

 given $5,000 to the University of Heidelberg 

 for a foundation for the advancement of 

 chemistry. 



According to the daily press President 

 Edmund J. James, of the University of Illi- 

 nois, called, on February 3, a meeting of the 

 faculty and announced that he had received 

 reports that he did not possess the confidence 

 and support of the faculty without which he 

 did not wish to retain the presidency. The 

 faculty in secret ballot by a vote of 188 to 4 

 declared confidence in President James. 



It is announced that Dr. Frank J. Goodnow, 

 Eaton professor of administrative law and 

 municipal science at Columbia University, at 

 present constitutional adviser of the Chinese 

 Republic in Peking, has been offered the presi- 

 dency of the Johns Hopkins University. 



Dr. M. a. Brannon, professor of biology in 

 the University of North Dakota and dean of 

 the college of liberal arts, has been elected 

 president of the University of Idaho. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESPONDENCE 



LABELLING MIOEOSCOPIO SLIDES 



Within the last year or so Science has pub- 

 lished four short articles on labelling slides.''- 

 From this it would seem to be a subject of 

 some interest. I have therefore ventured to 

 add a method which I have been using with 

 entire satisfaction for some time past. 



The objections to scratching slides or other 

 glassware with a diamond or carborundum is 

 that the label can not be removed, if for any 

 reason this is necessary. Another objection 

 that is equally serious is the difficulty of 

 making clear and legible labels where several 

 words must be written. These reasons led me 

 to abandon this method long ago. 



Marking with wax pencils is of doubtful 

 value owing to the extreme care necessary to 

 avoid removing the label through contact with 

 xylol or by mere rubbing. My own experience 

 with, waterproof ink has been that it is also 

 too easily rubbed off or washed off while pass- 

 ing slides through water or aqueous stains. 



Etching or grinding the surface of the slide 

 is satisfactory where the surface thus prepared 

 is to be used frequently but is entirely too 

 troublesome for ordinary slides. Moreover, 

 the pencil label is not always easily legible. 



I now use an ordinary india ink (I'encre de 

 chine) to which I have added a little ordinary 

 water glass (sodium silicate solution) such as 

 is sold at the comer drug store for preserving 

 eggs. It is usually better to thin, after adding 

 the water glass, with enough water to make 

 the ink flow freely. With this ink one can 

 write with a fine pointed pen any label that he 



lA. F. Blakeslee, "A Labelling Surface for 

 Glassware," Science, 37: 561, 1913; Zae Nor- 

 thrup, "A New Method for Labelling Microscopic 

 Slides," Science, 38: 126, 1913; Ernest Shaw 

 Eeynolds, "Labelling Microseopie Slides," Sci- 

 ence, 38: 363, 1913; Frank E. Blaisdell, "Label- 

 ling Microscopic Slides," Science, 38: 665, 1913. 



