SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



269 



NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 



Modem Microscopy : A Handbook for Beginners. 

 By M. I. Cross and Martin J. Cole. 192 pp. 

 medium Svo, illustrated with 40 figures. (London : 

 Bailliere, Tindall and Cox, 1895.) Price 3s. 6d. 



This is a second edition of a standard book for 

 beginners. It has been considerably enlarged and 

 in part re-written. As before, the first portion 

 treats of the microscope and the methods of using 

 it ; and the second, of the preparation and mounting 

 of microscopic objects. It is only too well-known 

 that the person who attempts to use his microscope 

 without a thorough understanding of the methods 

 of doing so, not only will never obtain the best 

 results that the instrument is capable of yielding, 

 but is very likely to misinterpret and form false 

 ideas regarding that which he does see. Yet there 

 are enthusiastic workers who are inclined to look 

 scornfully on the more careful worker who will not 

 commence observing until he has accurately centred 

 and focussed his condenser and arranged his 

 illumination so that it may yield the truest image. 

 If a microscope is worth using at all, it is worth 

 using well, and there is undoubtedly a growing 

 demand for a book which sets forth concisely and 

 intelligibly the most approved methods of employ- 

 ing the instrument and its accessories. This, the 

 first part of this book succeeds in doing, and the 

 advice and information given are clear and distinct. 

 Considerable space is devoted to the comparative 

 values of apochromatic and achromatic objectives, 

 the advantages and relation of aperture to power, 

 and there are some very interesting pages on 

 Monochromatic Light. This latter is too little 

 appreciated by the ordinary worker, but if he reads 

 this chapter, and is tempted to try the effects for 

 himself, it will give an added charm, and be a step 

 forward in much of his work. The second part of 

 the book is devoted to the methods of preparing 

 and mounting microscopic objects, and the 

 author, Mr. Cole, is well-known as a pro- 

 fessional preparer of first-class slides. Not only 

 are the processes of hardening, section-cutting, 

 staining and mounting fully described, but the 

 formulas for the making of the stains and mounting 

 media are given. Chapters are devoted to every 

 description of work — physiological, botanical, 

 entomological, geological, opaque mounts, — and we 

 note with especial pleasure the inclusion of a 

 chapter on the Mounting of Rotatoria, by Mr. C. F. 

 Rousselet. The cabinet of the Quekett Micro- 

 scopical Club testifies to the success that has 

 attended this gentleman's efforts in his particular 

 department. The publication of the processes that 

 he adopts will be of great advantage to many 

 microscopists. The book is altogether one that 

 can _ be recommended to the working micro- 

 scopist. Although it is specially intended for 

 beginners, many who have advanced beyond 

 that stage will find in it hints that may be fol- 

 lowed with profit. This class of work is just 

 that which encourages the beginner, guides the 



amateur, and reminds the proficient worker ; thus 

 doing much to advance the popularity of the 

 microscope, and relieving its votaries from un- 

 necessary anxiety. 



The Cambridge Natural Ilistmy. Edited by S. F. 

 Hamer, M.A. and A. E. Shipley, M A., vol. v. 

 " Peripatus," by Adam Sedgewick, M.A., F.R.S., 

 Fellow and Lecturer of Trinity College, Cambridge ; 

 " Myriapods," by F. G. Sinclair, M.A., Trinity 

 College, Cambridge ; " Insects," i'art i., by David 

 Sharp, M.A. (Cantab.), M.B., F.R.S. 59G pp. 

 large Svo., illustrated by 371 figures and map. 

 (London and New York : Macmillan and Co. 

 1895.) Price 17s. net. 



We have already had occasion to notice the 

 "Cambridge Natural History" Series of Messrs. 

 Macmillan (ante page GG) and prophesied a library of 

 books unrivalled in the knowledge to which they 

 are to be devoted. This, the second volume issued, 

 although volume v. of the series, more than main- 

 tains the reputation. As indicated by the title, there 

 are three divisions of invertebrata included, or, more 

 correctly, two and a half. Professor Sedgewick 's 

 contribution is a monograph of twenty-six pages 

 on those curious animals forming the genus 

 Peripatus, which have been variously assigned by 

 divers authors to the slugs and to the centipedes, 

 until Mr. H. N. Moseley, in 1874, discovered the 

 tracheae. There are less than a score defined 

 species of this genus which alone constitutes the 

 class Prototracheata. Then follows fifty-four pages 

 by Mr. F. G. Sinclair, M.A. (formerly F. G. Heath- 

 cote), on the Myriapoda, which class is divided into 

 the orders Chilognatha (= Diplopoda), Chilopoda, 

 Schizotarsia, Symphyla and Pauropoda. These 

 comparatively little worked and not generally 

 understood animals include the slow-moving 

 millipedes and the active centipedes. We imagine 

 now they will become more interesting from the 

 delightful manner and pleasant language in which 

 Mr. Sinclair tells us about them. One need only 

 read his account (page 32) of the myriapod hunt 

 in a neglected garden of Larnoca, to appreciate 

 this, and to be bitten, not by one of them, but by a 

 burning desire to have such a hunt. In this 

 chapter the author tells us what is known of their 

 habits, classification, structure, embryology and 

 palaeontology. The biological public are to be 

 congratulated upon the choice of Dr. David Sharp 

 as the exponent, in the Cambridge Natural History, 

 of the great class Insecta. It would not be 

 easy to find a writer than whom the mantle of 

 fitness would better adorn. His special knowledge 

 of one of the largest of the orders, Coleoptera, 

 added to his general familiarity with all the 

 orders, makes him one of the best to deal with 

 so wide a subject. In this volume the sections 

 treated are characteristic features and definition of 

 Insecta, embryology and classification. This 

 portion of the work is admirable, and greatly 

 helped by the copious illustrations. It has all the 

 fascination of " Kirby and Spence," with the 

 erudition of modern research. This volume of the 

 Cambridge Natural History indicates how popular 

 will become the series, for any ordinarily educated 

 person can fully grasp the history and scheme of 

 entomology from its pages. The orders dealt with 

 in part 1, include, Aptera, Orthoptera, Neuroptera 

 and Hymenoptera. Other orders will be con- 

 tinued in volume vi. of this series. Every library, 

 school and college in the country should possess 

 this work, which is of the highest educational 

 value. 



