318 Scientific News. [ May, 
Dr. Hunt fears that micro-photography, especially that whose best 
results ‘are obtained by oblique light, may temporarily retard the best 
construction of lenses for histological work which is not proven to be 
best accomplished by lenses specially corrected for obliquity. He 
thinks that our best lenses have optical capacities not yet fully developed, 
and that improvement in illuminating apparatus, particularly that for ob- 
taining accurate’ central illumination, modified or concentrated at will, 
is more needed at present than further improvement in lenses. 
Of microscopical objects he believes that the best work is always kept 
at home, and that with few exceptions we receive from Europe only 
what is unsalable there. The finest pathological work he has seen, at 
least that retaining the most structural details if not the most neatly 
mounted, was produced at the Army Medical Museum at Washington. 
In demonstrating and mounting botanical subjects, he considers this 
country immeasurably in advance of all others. He does not state 
(what should be stated) that this advance is very largely due to his own 
distinguished labors. Biological science, however, is not satisfied with 
microscopical slides, but turns to the living objects for a knowledge of 
structural details, and even the mounted preparations of the present and 
the future must show the whole structure of the cell, and not its empty 
shell, however beautifully displayed. ~ 
Oxituary.— Died at Boston, Mass., on Monday, March 19th, Ed- 
win Bicknell, one of the most genial of men and one of the most skillful 
of workers with the microscope. Outside the circle of his personal 
friends, among whom he was conspicuous for his cordiality and hearty 
good will, he was best known and will be longest remembered for his 
highly successful work in the preparation of microscopic objects. His 
slides, especially those of hard sections, have scarcely been equaled by 
any other maker. The exquisite slides which he sent out some years 
ago, by an arrangement with the Essex Institute of Salem, Mass., under 
the name of the Essex Institute Microscopical Works, have been fol- 
lowed ever since by an unbroken succession of excellent work. 
SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
— From a recent letter from Dr. L. de Koninck, of Liége, Belgium, to - 
Professor Hayden, we learn that the king of Belgium last year proposed 
a prize of twenty-five thousand francs to be awarded annually to the 
best memoir on the history of the country, its relations to foreign coun- 
tries, sciences, etc., which prize even foreigners are allowed to compete 
for at certain periods on specific subjects. The king has also initiated 
an important movement toward the exploration of Africa. The sub- 
scriptions for this purpose are already quite large, and inspire the hope 
that strong aid can be given to the brave men who desire to devote 
