716 SUililAEY OF CUEEENT EESEAECHES EELATINGr TO 



present they may be removed by placing the slide in a beaker or glass 

 vessel in which it can lie flat, putting in distilled water to cover the slide, 

 and after standing a few minutes, place the vessel on a sand-bath, when 

 the bubbles will soon emerge from under the cover and rise to the sur- 

 face of the water. The slide is then to be carefully removed, wiped, and 

 some of the thick medium spun round outside the edge of the cover, 

 which will in drying fill the space under the cover without admitting 

 any air. This is much better than to remove the cover or to try to poke 

 out the bubble, as the removal or displacement of the cover is very likely 

 to tangle up and destroy the object. 



New Cell.* — ^Mr. C. H. H. Walker, of Liverpool, has devised a new 

 cell for large mounts. They are rectangular in shape, and are made of 

 one standard size, 1^ in. by 5 16 in. They are also made with three 

 sides only for use as Hve-troughs. &e. The thickness varies from 1/24 in. 

 to 1, 12 in. If a deeper cell be required, two or more can be cemented 

 together. 



Monntiiig ia Fluosilicate of Soda.t — Mr. E. P. Quinn states that 

 sodium fluosilicate, which is sold as a disinfectant under the name of 

 Salufer, is a very good medium for preserving the green colouring 

 matter of plants, and that owing to its slight solubility in water 

 (0*4 parts in 100 j it possesses the further advantage of causing little 

 alteration in the shape of the cells. 



The Bidwell Cabinet.! — In this cabinet, the invention of Dr. W. D. 

 Bidwell, " the drawers contain twelve slides each, and are made of a 

 single piece of seasoned black walnut, 7^ in. by 8 in. and 3/8 in. thick. 

 The compartments are made with a 1-in. chisel, making six cuts 1/4 in. 

 apart and 1/4 in. from the side on each side, and then cuts corre- 

 sponding to these 3 in. towards the middle of the drawer. Then a piece 

 is easily chipped out between each pair of cuts, leaving twelve drawers 

 which easily hold the slides, separated down the centre by a ridge 3,'4 to 

 1 in. wide. Taking a single cut with a gouge out of this ridge opposite 

 each trough makes a convenient place to slip in ihe finger-nail to raise a 

 slide. Then the drawers are complete, strong and firm, and very easily 

 and cheaply made. Cut a shoulder on each side of the drawer, and a 

 cabinet is made which will take less than half the time or expense to 

 make of any other, and when done the slides are firmly held, each in its 

 own compartment, and available for inspection or removal, and no 

 danger of removing the cover-glass or label by hasty removal or the 

 motion incident to carrying." 



C6') Miscellaneous. 



Microscopical Atlas of Bacteriology.§ — Dr. C. Fraenkel and Dr. 

 A. Pfeiffer are issuing in parts an atlas which is intended to show the 

 microscopical appearances of micro-organisms. The illustrations have 

 been reproduced from photomicrographs, and possess at the same time 

 the faults and virtues of this process. The cover-glass preparations are 

 shown under a magnification of 1000, and sections of 500. Colonies 



* Sci.-Gosiip, 1889, jj. 184. t Trans. Manchester Micr. Soc., 1888, p. 75. 



X Arner. Mon. Micr. Jonm., x. (1889) pp. 184-5. 



^ ' Mikrofckopischcr Atla.^ dor liakterienkunde,' Svo, Berlin, 1889 (pis.). 



