1106 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



as I am informed has been done witliin the last year or two, to 

 take the most charitable view of the subject, betrays such culpable 

 ignorance of a subject involving such momentous consequences as 

 ought for ever to invalidate the testimony of one who should swear so 

 recklessly. In a case involving the issue of life and death it would 

 be better to measure several hundred corpuscles." 



An examination of the unabridged table of measurements, from 

 which the above summary is tabulated, discloses the further fact 

 that by selecting the corpuscles it would be possible for a dishonest 

 observer to make the average much larger or smaller than that above 

 given without the possibility of detection ; a fact the bearing of which 

 upon the value of expert testimony upon this subject is so obvious as 

 to need no comment. 



Styles of Indian Corn for Examining Movement of Protoplasm.* 

 — Prof. C. E. Bessey recommends the long styles of Indian corn 

 for the study of the movement of the protoplasm. By taking a 

 young style from an ear which has been kept in a warm place for an 

 hour or so, clipping olf a piece a couple of inches in length and 

 carefully mounting it in water under a large cover-glass, there will 

 be no difficulty in seeing a great deal of activity in the protoplasm. 

 Care must of course be taken to have the style lie flat, remembering 

 that it is not cylindrical in shape, but somewhat ribbon-shaped. The 

 cells are much elongated, and the walls are £0 transparent that with 

 careful focusing their contents may be seen, even in the interior parts 

 of the style. 



The protoplasm is sufficiently granular to be easily seen. It 

 moves along the side of the cell in a strong steady stream, occa- 

 sionally heaping uj) a great mass, which is eventually pushed onward 

 by the current. As an easily obtained and instructive example of 

 protoplasmic activity. Prof. Bessey knows of nothing which is superior 

 to such a specimen. 



Haushofer's Microscopical Reactions.! — Dr. K. Haushofer's work 

 is intended as an introduction to the recognition of various elements 

 and compounds by the aid of the Microscope, and deals with the 

 apj)li cation of the Microscope to petrographical research. 



The author's method depends for its raison d'etre on the constancy 

 of crystalline forms and combinations of elements, crystallization 

 being considered a constant property, just as colour, solubility, melt- 

 ing point, &c. The methods which, by the aid of the Microscope, 

 aim at demonstrating the presence of different substances through 

 these crystallizable compounds, for the most part possess the advan- 

 tage, not only of being applicable to extremely small quantities, but 

 of requiring very little apparatus and only very simple operations. 

 Hence they are of great practical importance if we desire to analyse 

 very minute quantities and do not possess other sufficiently sensitive 

 tests. But for bodies which are demonstrable in very minute quan- 



* Amer. Natural., xix. (1885) p. 888. 



t Haushofer, K., ' Mikroskopische Keactiouen,' vii. and 1 62 pp., 137 figs. 8vo, 

 Braunschweig, 1885. 



