1134 General Notes. | November, 
S. Carlos von Koseritz has published “ Bosquejos Ethno- 
logicos,” a series of papers contributed by him in the last three 
years to the Gazeta de Port Alegre on anthropological ‘subjects 
in the province of Rio Grande do Sul and other parts of Brazil. 
Stone implements of a strictly Palzolithic type appear to be very 
rare in von Koseritz’s collection, and as they occur promiscuously 
with Neolithic objects, the author infers that it is impossible to 
determine a Paleolithic antecedent to a Neolithic age in Brazil. 
Many pieces were found associated with the remains of the Me- 
gatherium, “ Rhinoceros tichorinus’(/ /) and the cave bear. Buta 
skeleton recently found in a shell mound on the banks of a fresh- 
water lagoon near Cidreira, three miles from Rio Grande, con- 
vinces the writer that the early inhabitants of South Brazil were 
of a lower type than the Charruas and others in possession of 
that region im the historic period. The Botocudos of the Aimores 
mountains have more nearly the features of the Cidreira cranium 
(Nature, Aug. 21, 1884). ose who are interested in the sub- 
ject of the jus prima noctis will find it thoroughly discussed by 
Dr. Karl Schmidt in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, xvi (1884), pp. 
18-59. The author seems to be familiar with the literature of the 
subject, and gives innumerable references to authorities, ancient 
and modern. : 
MICROSCOPY .! 
A Means oF DIFFERENTIATING EmsBryonic Tissugs.—It may 
be safely assumed that all hardening and staining fluids possess, 
in a higher or lower degree, the power of developing, in the pho- 
tographer’s sense, histological distinctions between embryonic 
cells, long before these distinctions become manifest in percepti- 
ble morphological differences. It is evident, also, that this dif- 
ferentiating action varies in strength according to the conditions 
under which the reagents are applied. Our knowledge of the 
ways and means of controlling this action is still very meager; 
but it is sufficient to show that the histological technique of the 
future has much to hope for through experimentation in this di- 
rection. One of the best ways of intensifying the differential 
effects of hardening fluids, is to use several of them in combina- 
tion or in sequence. The use of osmic acid, followed by Merkel’s 
fluid, is an example of this kind. The advantages of this method 
in the study of pelagic fish eggs have already been noticed,? and 
‘ I wish now to state briefly what the method will accomplish 
=~ when applied to the eggs of Clepsine. The mode of procedure 
is as follows: 
oS eggs are placed in 1% per cent solution of osmic acid 
r ten minutes, then rinsed in clean water and transferred to 
= 
: 1 Edited by Dr. Cc. O. WHITMAN, Mus. Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass. 
: S a anem Nov., 1883, p. 1294, and Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and 
