392 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 114. 



The Preservation of Cartilage and other Tis- 

 sues in a Dried Condition. W. Patten. 

 The cartilaginous crania and other parts 

 of the skeleton of the skate, when perfectly- 

 dehydrated, maybe cleared in benzole, tur- 

 pentine or chloroform, and impregnated 

 with paraf&ne in the usual manner prepara- 

 tory to sectioning. But if, instead of im- 

 bedding them in a block of paraf&ne, they 

 are (drained in the warm oven for a few 

 minutes, or wiped off quickly with blotting 

 paper and then allowed to cool, they harden 

 very quickly, with little or no shrinkage, 

 and show very clearly the important ana- 

 tomical details. 



Complete dehydration may require days 

 and even weeks of immersion in strong al- 

 cohol, to which pieces of calcium oxide are 

 added to absorb the water given off by the tis- 

 sues. In very difficult cases prolonged heat- 

 ing or boiling in alcohol may be necessary. 

 If the dehydration is not complete the 

 objects will shrink when placed in paraffine. 

 But in some cases the shrinkage will not ap- 

 pear till three or four weeks after exposure 

 to the air. ParafBne that has been used 

 before and contains oil of cloves, etc., dis- 

 colors the tissues. The same is true of tur- 

 pentine. When one wishes to preserve the 

 clear, white color of the tissues the best 

 results are obtained by using perfectly clear 

 alcohol, chloroform and pure paraffine. 

 The method has not been thoroughly tested, 

 but there seems to be no reason why we 

 cannot prepare in this way the entire skele- 

 tons of animals, whether in whole or in part 

 cartilaginous, and entire embryos or adult 

 animals, when not too large. 



In this way series of amphibian eggs 

 were prepared, which when fastened to a 

 card are very useful in the laboratory; 

 also a series of sections about yV of an inch 

 thick from a horseshoe crab eight inches 

 long. The sections are cut before dehydra- 

 tion and impregnated with paraf&ne after- 

 wards. When the paraffine collected in ex- 



posed cavities (blood sinuses, elementary 

 cavities, etc.), and would not drain off 

 readily, it was absorbed while hot by a bit 

 of blotting paper. 



If the object is too large to be imbedded 

 safely it may be cut open or sliced down 

 approximately to the desired plane before 

 dehydration and then heated, as described 

 above. The imbedded pieces may then be 

 cut down to the requisite level in the micro- 

 tome, and, if necessary, heated again to 

 drain off the excess of paraffine. Excellent 

 sagittal sections of the brains of fishes 

 were obtained in this way, showing very 

 clearly the ventricles and their connections. 

 The same method might be easily applied 

 to show the structure of sea anemones, 

 earth worms, mammalian embryos, etc. 

 G. H. Paekee, 

 Haevaed Univeesity. Secretary. 



( To he concluded. ) 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 

 THE FLORIDA MONSTER. 



I HAVE just received some large masses 

 of the carcass cast ashore in December and 

 described by me as the body of an Octopus 

 in the American Journal of Science and else- 

 where. These masses of integument are 3 

 to 10 inches thick, veiy tough and elastic, 

 and very hard to cut. They are composed 

 mainly of tough cords and fibers of white 

 elastic connective tissue, much interlaced. 

 This structure resembles that of the blubber 

 of some cetaceans. The creature could not 

 have been an Octoptis. It was probably re- 

 lated to the whales, but how such a huge 

 bag-like structure could be attached to any 

 known whale is a puzzle that I am unable 

 to solve at present. 



The supposition that it was the body of 

 an Octopus was partly based upon its bag- 

 like form and partly upon the statements 

 made to me that stumps of large arms were 

 attached to it at first. This last statement 

 was certainly untrue. A. E. Verrill. 



Febeuaey 23, 1897. 



