442 General Notes. [July, 
cause of the fish-like odor which it possessed last fall. In filtering large 
quantities of the water he scarcely obtained more than one or two grains 
of residue from a thousand gallons of water. Of this a large proportion 
consisted of small particles of clay and sand, and the balance was mainly 
composed of Diatomaceæ (Cyclotella operculata, Melosira varians, Asteri- 
onella formosa, Fragilaria capucina, Navicula cuspidata, and Amphora 
ovalis), Desmidiaceæ (Closterium lunula, and Staurastrum gracile), 
Oscillatoriaceæ (Oscillatoria autumnalis); Palmellaccæ (Botryococcus 
braunii), and Entomostraca (Anurea heptodon, Cyclops quadricornis, 
Cypris tristriata, and Cetochilus septentrionalis). Chemical analysis 
equally indicated the unusual purity of the water, and gave no clew to 
the cause of its obnoxious odor. The experiment of placing a small 
quantity of the microscopic algæ from the filter in distilled water re- 
sulted in the production of the well-known odor, after covering the mix- 
ture from the air for a few hours, just as it had done in a precisely simi- 
lar experiment by Prof. N. T. Lupton, of Nashville, Tenn., on the _ 
water supply of that city. This would strongly confirm the partially ac- 
cepted belief that this odor, which so often annoys the residents of our 
cities, is due to some condition, probably the decay and decomposition of 
the alge in the water. No remedy is known except exposure to the air, 
which soon removes the odor. 
Powprrep SULPHUR. — Mr. H. G. Hanks presented at a recent 
meeting of the San Francisco Microscopical Society three slides illustrat- 
ing the substitution of powdered sulphur for the more costly and pure 
sublimed sulphur. Sublimed sulphur presents under the microscope 4 
well-marked appearance of globular particles and botryoidal and stalac- 
titic masses, while the powdered sulphur, which appears the same to the 
naked eye, is shown as angular fragments of irregular size. ‘The pow- 
dered article when sold for the sublimed, should be regarded as adulter- 
ated, since it contains foreign matter. : 
ExcuanGes. — Diatoms from Coorongite, from South Australia, for 
good mounted objects. Address Gattoway C. Morris, East Tulpe- 
hocken Street, Germantown, Phil. 
—— 
. SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
— Every one who has occasion to use collections of small animals in 
` alcohol knows the inconvenience of handling a large number of little 
bottles that will neither stand upright. nor be still on their sides. ae 
they are kept in boxes a large number have to be taken out one by one 
to find any particular bottle, and if they are set upon shelves the front 
ones are sure to be upset while searching among those in the rear. In 
_ taking care of a collection contained in several thousand bottles of this 
kind, the writer has been forced to contrive some method of arranging 
