ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 703 



Ehrlich's hematoxylin to which eosin had been added in the follow- 

 ing proportion: — 100 cc. Ehrlich's logwood solution, 15 cc. of 1 per 

 cent, watery solution of eosin. For staining maceration specimens, 

 a methyl-green solution with acetic acid proved useful. 



Preserving Cilioflagellata.* — Prof. 0. Biitschli preserves Cilio- 

 flagellata in picrosulphuric acid, afterwards changing to alcohol. By 

 this means the flagella are extremely well retained. The posterior 

 flagellum was well observed after the action of osmic acid vapour ; but 

 a 1 per cent, solution caused it to disappear. 



Mounting Foraminifera in Balsam.t — Mr. J. Carpenter gets rid 

 of the air in Foraminifera by boiling them in dilute potash for a few 

 moments, afterwards in pure water, and thoroughly drying them. 

 Then put them into a test-tube with spirit of turpentine, and boil for 

 a few minutes over a spirit-lamp. When wanted for mounting, place 

 a drop of balsam on a slip, take up a small quantity of the shells on 

 the point of a pen-knife or a homoeopathic spoon, and immediately 

 place in the balsam ; then put on the cover-glass, but do not use any 

 pressure. They require baking in a slow oven for some time to 

 thoroughly harden the balsam. 



Water-washed Diatoms.! — Dr. G. H. Taylor recommends the 

 following method of preparing samples. A quantity of the mud 

 containing the diatoms is placed in a large jar with two or three 

 times its bulk of clean water, and thoroughly shaken up. After 

 settling for ten minutes, about half the water is poured off into 

 another jar, and the first is refilled, shaken, allowed to settle as before, 

 and most of the water poured off. This is kept up until the water is 

 perfectly clear at the end of ten minutes. The light portions poured 

 off are saved for future treatment. The heavy material which contains 

 all but the smallest diatoms has much sand mixed with it. To get 

 rid of this it is shaken up in the jar of water, and the top part almost 

 immediately poured off. This is repeated several times, refilling the 

 jar with pure water each time until the heavy sand remaining shows 

 but few diatoms mixed with it. The material obtained by the last 

 pourings, consisting of nearly all the diatcms, and the fine sand, is 

 now boiled in water with the addition of a little cooking soda, and is 

 then placed in a large bottle filled with pure water, shaken up, and 

 poured off after standing five minutes. The bottle is refilled, and the 

 process continued for several hours, the time of settling being 

 gradually reduced to three or even two minutes. The remaining 

 material is then placed in a shallow dish, a little at a time, with a 

 small quantity of water, and gently rocked and rotated, causing the 

 diatoms and lighter particles to rise in the water, when they can either 

 be poured off or dipped out with a pipette, leaving most of tho sand 

 behind. 



* Morphol. Jahrb., x. (1885) pp. 529-77 (3 pla. and 4 figB.). See this Journal, 

 ante, p. 460. 



t Journ. of Micr., v. (1886) p. 50. 



% Proc. Amer. Soc. Micr., Eighth Ann. Meeting, 1885, pp. 207-8. 



