


1891. Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 849 
The moment the acid sulfurosum is added a thick precipitate arises, 
and at this moment the reducing fluid is strongest. 
The method of handling the section is the same as in method 1. 
The tin solution is made by adding so much chloride of tin to three 
per cent. tincture of iodine until the color is white or yellowish. The 
iron solution is a saturated solution of ferrum phosphoricum in distilled 
water. 
The method is somewhat cumbersome, but the results are said to be 
extraordinary. 
Method of TERED Rotifers.^—The first difficulty which one 
experiences in studying the rotifers is their constant motion. This 
difficulty is overcome, according to Masius, by the use of a mixture of 
methyl alcohol, water, and cocaine in weak solution. 
After being anæsthetized by this fluid, the rotifers may be fixed with- 
out contraction in the ordinary preservative ee E s fluid, 
for example. 
For the study of the head, an anæsthetized specimen is piad upon 
a slide, and the head cut off in a transverse plane as near as possible to 
the anterior end. The section thus obtained can be examined easily 
from any side in water or weak alcohol. 

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 
Natural Science Association of Staten Island.—April 11th_— 
Mr. Arthur Hollick stated that a nest of the barred owl (Syrnium 
nebulosum) was found on Staten Island, March 27th, by Mr. Chas. 
Rufus Harte, a student of Columbia College, This isan addition to 
the list of birds known to breed here, and the following memorandum 
from Mr. Harte was read : 
‘ In the woods which are the continuation of the swamp (near Bull’s 
Head) I came upon a sweet gum, having an ‘ owlish’ looking cavity. 
As I turned aside to investigate, a barred owl flew out and away 
into the depths of the woods, appearing again once or twice, but 
always at a very respectable distance. The tree was about two feet in 
diameter, with no limbs below the opening, which was some thirty 
feet up, and very irregilar in form. The cavity into which it opened 
was about eight inches in diameter, and was filled to within six inches 
of the mouth with dead leaves and feathers. On this bed lay the three 
6 Arch. de Biol., X., 4, 1890, p. 652. - 



