1894.] ; Microscopy. 361 
make the necessary deviations from the section lines when that particu- 
lar object is sectioned. : 
The paper with the attached objects is now placed in the paraffine 
bath, and finally removed and covered with paraffine in the usual way. 
After cooling in water, the block is trimmed and the softened paper 
peeled off, leaving the objects in the paraffine, close to the under surface 
of the block. This surface is now marked by the orienting lines of 
the ribbed paper and also by the record numbers, which, before imbed- 
ding, were written with a soft pencil on the paper. The block is now 
fixed in the microtome, and the objects cut one after the other, as 
though a single object had been imbedded; or a number of them may 
be cut together, if they have been arranged with that object in view. 
For example, we may use a thinner collodion, and arrange a large 
number of insect embryos, or small worms in a compact bundie, like 
a package of cigarettes, and cut them all at once. 
Although I have not tried Dr. Woodworth’s method, it seems to me 
that he has merely added to what is described above, several complica- 
tions, which might in most cases be omitted. He gums the paper toa 
glass slide, dries it, covers the exposed surface first with a layer of gam 
and then with a collodion film, each of which must dry separately. The 
objects cleared in turpentine are then placed in position in the film 
which is softened and rendered adhesive by exposure to ether vapor, 
then slide and all are placed in the paraffine bath. Finally after imbed- 
ding, the slide is soaked in water to free it from the paper and the 
paper from the paraffine. In most cases I find it quite unnecessary to gum 
the paper, as it comes away from the collodion and the paraffine very well 
without it. It is, moreover, very inconvenient and unnecessary to imbed 
the paper attached to a glass slide in the paraffine bath. The paper 
alone can be handled with perfect ease, and it does not curl up or warp 
in the bath. If any warping occurs, I should say it was due, for obvi- 
ous reasons, to the use of a collodion film in place of minute drops of 
collodion and clove oil. I should suppose also that any object of con- 
siderable size, say the egg of Limulus,.could not be easily fixed in the 
manner suggested by Dr. Woodworth, for it is merely the adhesiveness 
of the small amount of turpentine on the object which must be depended 
upon to hold it in place. But as the turpentine evaporates rapidly, this 
would tend to free the object, or else fill it with air bubbles before the 
requisite number could be oriented, preparatory to softening the 
collodion in the ether vapor. re 
The advantages of the method, as I use it, are many ; ease, rapidity 
(although we need not hurry) and accuracy of orientation ; time saved 
