920 General Notes. [September, 
exceedingly convenient stain for such purposes, as it penetrates 
an object of considerable size readily, and differentiates admirably. 
Thus a Limax may be left in the fluid twenty-four hours, after- 
ward washed in water and the excess of coloring matter removed 
by seventy per cent alcohol before it is transferred to stronger 
alcohol. Sections of tissues stain in the fluid in from two to three 
minutes to two to three hours, according to the method of hard- 
ening that has been adopted. 
The fluid is prepared as follows: Rub up seven grammes of 
cochineal with an equal quantity of burnt alum in a mortar, add 
700 c.c. of water, and boil down to 400 c.c. Add a trace of carbolic 
acid, and filter. 
Bismarck brown in concentrated solution in water or seventy 
per cent alcohol also stains well i” toto; there is no danger of 
over-staining, as the excess of color is removed by alcohol. It is 
particularly to be recommended where cartilaginous parts are to 
be studied, or where the sections are to be photographed. [The 
use of plates in which the sensitized surface is impregnated with 
a weak solution of eosin (Jour. Roy. Mic. Soc., Dec., 1884, p. 
is said to obviate the necessity of using special stains for photo- 
graphic purposes. } 
Schallibaum’s collodion and clove-oil mixture (one volume of 
the former to three of the latter) is excellent for sticking the sec- 
tions to the slide. Although it is possible by this method to 
stain the sections on the slide in either watery or alcoholic media, 
much time is saved, and on the whole more satisfactory results 
obtained by staining the objects previously zz toto. The collodion 
medium stains slightly in aniline colors, if staining on the slide 
be resorted to. Sr 
The study of a slide containing a large number of sections 
may, in certain cases, be much facilitated by having a photograph 
of the slide enlarged two or three times by means of an ordinary 
view lens. Such an enlargement is frequently sufficient to indi- 
cate where an organ appears or disappears in a series, and thus 
to save time in the study of the individual sections.—Professor 
R. Ramsay Wright, Toronto. 
A CHEAP BELL-GLASS FOR THE LABORATORY TABLE.—Taking a 
plain glass finger-bowl four or five inches wide and about two 
_ inches deep, a handle may be prepared by gluing a three-quarter 
inch cork to the bottom. Cat off the smaller end of the cork 
smoothly and cover it with marine glue. If the end of the cork 
is now heated over a spirit lamp until the glue takes fire, and the 
-Cork is quickly pressed with its glue-covered end upon the cen- 
_ ter of the bottom of the dish, you have a cork handle by which 
you can lift the dish.— F.. A. Ryder. 
_A SIMPLE METHOD OF INJECTING THE ARTERIES AND VEINS IN 
ALL ANIMALS.—The principle involved in this method is that 
