SCIENCE. 



483 



partment, Washington, has arranged a new microtome in 

 which all the parts are reduced to their most simple 

 form. Mr. Taylor described his invention as consisting 

 essentially of a thin brass tube about one inch and a half 

 strength by one inch in diameter. A X mcn brass tube 

 secured within the large cylinder. This tube enters the 

 bottom where it is secured, and proceeds to within a 

 quarter of an inch of the inside surface of the top. To 

 the outside open end of this tube a rubber tube is attached ; 

 the other end of the rubber tube is made to communicate 

 with a freezing mixture composed of finely cut ice and 

 salt in about equal proportions. The pail containing 

 this mixture is placed over and about fifteen inches 

 higher than the section cutter. The object of this ar- 

 rangement is to fill the brass cylinder with a freezing 

 liquid drained from the pail, and caused by the liquefying 

 salt and ice, the temperature of which is about zero. On 

 filling the cylinder with the liquid any object on the top 

 of the cylinder becomes frozen in a short period and may 

 then be cut to any degree of thickness. In order to pre- 

 serve the low degree of temperature in the cylinder a 

 second tube is secured in the cylinder to remove air and 

 keep up a constant current of the freezing liquid. This 

 tube enters the bottom of the cylinder, where it is fast- 

 ened. It projects upwards to within an eighth of an inch 

 of the top and has a diameter of about one-half of the 

 supply tube. This microtome or freezing cylinder in 

 other respects is arranged like other microtomes, such as 

 are used for ether or rhigoline ; and the same mathemat- 

 ical accuracy attained in cutting sections, 



The editor of the American Monthly Microscopical 

 Journal devotes an article to the selection of microscopes, 

 and expresses his belief that the microscope of the future 

 will be an instrument of quite moderate size, and about 

 the same dimensions as that of the forms used by the 

 German student. We believe this to be a correct view 

 of the microscopist's requirements, if the instrument is 

 employed as often as it should be. The colossal instru- 

 ments which have been recently constructed show no ad- 

 vance in the manufacture of microscopes, but rather a 

 return to the monstrosities of 100 years ago, when their 

 size was " prodigious," and the display of ornamentation 

 profuse. We once saw the microscope "built" for 

 George III., which was a marvel of the brass finisher's 

 art, as elaborate as a Louis XIV. clock, and probably as 

 useful, as an optical instrument. 



We believe the form of microscope which will be ac- 

 cepted as a standard by future microscopists will be the 

 "Stevenson" model. Five years ago we submitted 

 drawings for an inexpensive instrument on this plan, but 

 was met by a variety of objections from opticians. 



We now find that two London makers are offering 

 microscopes on this model, the Stevenson form having 

 been modified, so as to considerably reduce the expense. 

 The advantages of this model is very great. First, a 

 horizontal stage. Second, the comfort of sloping tubes. 

 Third, an erected image. 



We notice in the new edition of " Carpenter " (page 

 86) that such an instrument (binoculen) can be sold 

 complete, with objective, for $100, or simplified as a stu- 

 dent's microscope (binoculen, with 2 objectives) for $64. 



For those who merely practice the refinements of the 

 microscope, such an instrument would present many ob- 

 jections, but for biological studies and ordinary micros- 

 copical work, we strongly advocate its use, and desire to 

 find it manufactured in its new and cheaper form by 

 American manufacturers of microscopes. 



Prof. Alexis A. Julien has published a reprint 

 from the Journal of the Amer. Chemical Society of his 

 paper " On the Examination of Carbon Dioxide in the 

 Fluid Cavities of Topaz." He describes two simple 

 and inexpensive apparatus for the microscopical determi- 

 nation of carbonic acid in the cavities of minerals ; and a 

 recent study of large numbers of cleavage slices from 



fifty pebbles of topaz from Minas Geraes, Brazil, has pre- 

 sented facts of some interest hitherto not recorded. In 

 some of the slices many extremely angular, elongated, 

 branching, and even reticulated forms of considerable 

 size and novelty abound. Their outlines are at many 

 points decidedly crystalline, with arms projecting at an 

 angle of about 135 degrees, which seems to indicate 

 that Brewster's generalization, that the cavities were gen- 

 erally " capriciously distributed when the substance of 

 the crystal was in a soft or plastic state," may have been 

 pressed too far. In general, the larger expansions of the 

 cavities are mostly occupied by brine, while their attenu- 

 ated extremities and fine tubular connections are filled 

 by liquid carbonic acid, occasionally including a bubble 

 due to contraction. 



Mr. C. M. VORCE has forwarded to us a drawing of the 

 many forms of microscopical life found by him in water 

 from Lake Erie, and used as a water supply for Cleve- 

 land City. This appears to be but the first instalment 

 of the subject. He draws and names nearly two hun- 

 dred specimens. 



Preliminary Remarks on the Microscopic 

 Structure of Coal from East Scotland and 

 South Wales, by Prof. Williamson, F. R. S., Owens 

 College. — This subject will not be worked out until ten 

 years, but he described layers of vascular tissue which 

 can be separated layer by layer, while in other cases the 

 charcoal layer on the surface of the coal and the organic 

 structure is not capable of separation, and he stated that 

 charcoal contains a tubular structure, like tissues of or- 

 dinary bark. The association of tissues resembles that 

 of Cycadian plants ; and referred to the genus Cordaites 

 having been proved to belong to this group by M. Renault ; 

 the author has made nearly a thousand distinct observa- 

 tions on the structure of coal. Separates ordinary coal 

 with large quantities of mineral charcoal, with macros- 

 pores of Lepidendroid plants filled up with myriads of 

 microspores which were certainly not floated to the spots, 

 from the para ffine coals which do not contain these large 

 macrospores. He divides coal into " Iso-sporous " coals 

 and " Heterosporous " coals ; both abound in Cordaites, 

 which form the mineral charcoal. 



Note on the Occurrence of Selenium and Tellu- 

 rium in Japan, by E. Divers, M. D. — The author draws 

 attention to the fact that the presence of these two ele- 

 ments has been observed in Japanese sulphuric acid, and 

 considers it probable that these substances occur in mate' 

 rial quantities in Japan. 



Brewing in Japan, by R. W. Atkinson, B.Sc. (Lond.) — 

 The Japanese brewing process is divided into two parts 

 comparable with the malting and brewing processes of 

 beer-making. The mode of preparation and the properties 

 of the diastatic materials are different in the two cases. 

 The Japanese equivalent of malt or " koji" hydrates mal- 

 tose in addition to cane-sugar, dextrin, and starch, and the 

 ultimate products of its action on starch-paste are dextrose 

 and dextrin, or perhaps dextrose alone. Koji differs from 

 malt in being rendered inactive by heat at a much lower 

 temperature than malt. Koji is prepared as follows: A 

 mixture of steamed rice and water is allowed to remain in 

 shallow tubs at a low temperature (o°-5° C.) until quite 

 liquid ; it is then heated, fermentation commences, and con- 

 tinues until nearly all the dextrine first formed is exhaust- 

 ed. This product is now used like yeast, and is added to 

 fresh quantities of steamed rice and water, fermentation 

 proceeding until the percentage of alcohol amounts to 

 about 13 or 14 per cent by weight. After the greater part 

 of the rice added has been used up, the mash is filtered 

 and clarified by standing. The "sake" so produced re- 

 quires very careful watching, and when summer approaches, 

 or it exhibits signs of putrefactive fermentation, it is then 

 heated in iron vessels ; this operation has frequently to be 

 repeated. Analyses of various specimens, fresh and dis- 

 eased, are given in the paper. 



