nest, and by a lack of material to work upon. We were ableto — 
the summer of the year before we had found thirty-three nests 
1040 — General Notes. . [Nov. q 
ated thirty yards from the nest, we found five. Of seventeen 4 
ninety-six hours. ; 
‘We had hoped to collect a much larger store of facts upon — 
this subject, but were prevented from doing so by the difficulty — 
of keeping the wasps alive after we had taken them from the — 
find only one wasp-nest during the entire summer, although in 
in the same neighborhood. { 
Our strictures upon the observations of others may seem ae 
percritical, but when it is remembered that the only wate 1 
1 
MICROSCOPY.: 1 
Microtechnical Notes by Dr. Paul Mayer.—After describ- 7 
ing the new water-bath and its accessories, Dr. Mayer P he | 
to give the latest improvements in the methods employ an a 
Naples Zoological Station: schnitt- ; 
Section-Smoother, or Planisher?—The rod of the 
and fastens them to the under side of the rod with very mi 
ne. In this manner the rod can readily be an a it 
desired extent; and the transparency of the ea 
possible to follow the sections as they pass under mate general 
2. Section-Fixatives—Of the three fixatives now ‘dered the 
use,—shellac, collodion, and albumen,—shellac is considere? | 
* Edited by C. O. WHITMAN, Ph.D., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. pee p 
=“ Schnittstrecker” has been variously translated “ secti 
i . ener,” etc. Perhaps the German r unsatisfactory 
€ instrument is designed to prevent sections from curling; , pepo 
to keep them plane, or Dat The word planisher, taken 1m 4 psi Bo 
Sense, expresses the idea precisely enough, is both simp! 4 eda a 
ture, therefore, to propose it as a substitute for the awkward an 
itherto employed. : 
