196 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLI 



ZOOLOGY 



Guyer's Animal Micrology,^ though burdened with a horrible 

 name, is one of the best and most practical works upon microscopic 

 technique with which we are acquainted, ranking, in this respect with 

 Bohm and Oppel's well-known "Taschenbuch" which, by the way, 

 is not referred to in the list of works cited on p. vi. 



The especial merit of the work lies in its great practicability. It- 

 does not burden the beginner with a large number of alternatives; 

 but starts him 'at once with a f(>\\ reagents of almost universal avail- 

 ability and sets him at work with his specimens. Only when these 

 have been carried through and converted into slides are other methods 

 and other objects considered. 



In the Appendix are given an account of the microscope and its 

 accessories, a list of further tried and proved reagents and a table of 

 tissues and organs with methods of preparation which will doubtless 

 prove of value to instructors as well as to students. The list which 

 is given embraces over 250 objects and is more than ample to illustrate 

 any practicable course in normal histology. The final chapter of the 

 Appendix deals with methods preparatory to microscopic preparation 

 and study of a series of animals which are frequently used in the 

 Zoological Laboratory. 



Omissions of what we would like to see in such a work are few. We 

 have found no mention of Cox's Golgi method which presents certain 

 advantages over the silver impregnation; the Golgi method for dis- 

 tinguishing bile capillaries is not referred to, nor is the value of Lyons 

 blue for differentiating cartilage. The method of rolling wax plates 

 for reconstruction, credited to Ruber (p. 128), has been in use for 

 many years. In the ' Memoranda' on p. 30 it is stated that material 

 which is to be kept indefinitely should be put in tightly stoppered 

 bottles, but there is no hint as to the injurious effects of the extracts 

 of cork and that some other method of closure should be adopted. 

 But why find any more fault with such a useful and excellent work? 



J. S. K. 



. F. Guyer, Chicago, Ur 



