100 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



January, professing to enjoy it, though even at 

 Easter I have found dredging very cold work, 

 and on one occasion the frost in January was so 

 severe that the sea froze in the rock-pools, and 

 the hills were covered with deep snow, a most 

 unusual occurrence. 



In connection with the wonders of the sea around 

 the Isle of Man, there is an institution of inestim- 

 able value to the student, which is not known as 

 widely as it deserves. I refer to the Biological 

 Station at Port Erin. It is under the management 

 of the Liverpool Marine Biological Committee. 

 The laboratory is fitted with appliances for 

 dredging, and with all requisites connected with 

 observing and preserving the various treasures 

 which the sea gives up. There is also an aquarium 

 exhibiting many of these in a living state. Visitors 

 are admitted on payment of a small charge. The 

 great boon, however, is the opportunity the station 

 gives to the naturalist for observation and practical 

 work under competent guidance — an opportunity 

 to be appreciated in proportion to its extreme 

 rarity. Those who are entitled to work in the 

 station, when there is room, and after formal 



application to the Director, are: (i) Annual 

 subscribers of one guinea or upwards to the 

 funds, each guinea subscribed entitling to the 

 use of a work-place for four weeks ; and (2) 

 others who are not annual subscribers, but 

 who pay the treasurer ten shillings per week 

 for the accommodation and privileges. Appli- 

 cation for permission to work at the station, or 

 for specimens, or any communications in regard 

 to the scientific work, should be made to Pro- 

 fessor Herdman, F.R.S., University College, 

 Liverpool. 



Annual reports are published by the Committee, 

 containing, inter alia, the names of fresh species 

 added to the recorded lists, so that a collector may 

 learn if any of his captures are new to the locality, 

 in which case he should not fail to communicate 

 the fact, and if possible send the specimen for 

 confirmation. Surely no greater privilege could 

 be imagined for a student of marine shells than 

 the use of dredges for collecting and the opportunity 

 of observing his living captures under competent 

 guides. 



68, Wolverhampton Road, Stafford. 



SEED MOUNTING FOR THE MICROSCOPE. 



By J. Ballantyne. 



A S the time has again come round when nature 

 has clothed the vegetable kingdom in all her 

 array of beautiful flowers, each producing fruit 

 after its kind, a few hints on seeds and how to 

 mount them may not be uninteresting to many 

 readers of Science-Gossip. 



It is now ten years since I first mounted seeds as 

 described below, and to-day they are all as perfect 

 as when first finished ; nor have I noticed any dust 

 or obstruction gathering on the cover-glasses, as I 

 understand from others who have mounted seeds 

 loose in the cells. There need be no difficulty in 

 obtaining seeds for microscopical purposes, as 

 many of our wild plants have suitable ones. 

 Small seeds are better suited for this purpose than 

 large ones. The latter do not make very neat 

 slides, and only one or two seeds would be seen at 

 a time, even with a three- or four-inch objective, 

 whereas with smaller seeds a number may be seen 

 in the field of view at the same time, and in this 

 way the effect and variety are greater from a 

 popular point of view. These considerations are 

 of little importance when the observer may wish 

 to examine them for scientific purposes. 



"When collecting, a dry day should be chosen, if 

 possible, as the seeds are then in better condition, 

 and can be gathered cleaner than if the plants be 

 wet. It is necessary for the preservation of seeds 

 that they be quite matured and ripe, and in the 



best condition possible, otherwise failure may 

 ensue. When going a-seedhunting, a plentiful 

 supply of chip and paper pill-boxes should be 

 provided, the latter to be used only for the most 

 minute seeds, because in drying they do not allow 

 the moisture to get away so freely as the chip 

 boxes. The boxes should be all either lettered or 

 numbered, and a note-book carried, in which 

 particulars of each kind of seed may be entered 

 opposite the respective letter or number, with 

 date and locality where found. Wherever practic- 

 able the seed-vessels . should be opened when 

 gathered, and their contents emptied into a box, 

 marking its particulars into the note-book at the 

 same time. This prevents confusion and keeps 

 the seeds free from bits of broken capsules, etc. 

 When the seed-vessels are small or open, first 

 shake the plant carefully over a sheet of paper or 

 a handkerchief and then empty the seeds into a 

 box. The cleaner the seeds are kept, the less 

 trouble will be afterwards experienced in cleaning 

 them for mounting. 



For seeds which may be gathered before they 

 are fully ripe, a vasculum will be required. In 

 cases of this kind the heads of the plants, with part 

 of the stem attached, should be taken off and put 

 in the vasculum to allow them to be taken home 

 and dried. Put the various pieces of each plant in 

 a paper cone and set it apart to dry, care being 



