Maddox^ 071 Acari in a Nitrate of Silver Bath. 
97 
numerous bright, glistening points, the mass being altogether 
in length about one and a quarter inch, and three eighths of 
an inch in width. Supposing these points to be crystals, I pro- 
ceeded to remove them with the blotting paper ; but I could 
not gather them up, for they floated by and opened out on the 
surface. A thin piece of wood was turned up, and with this 
a few of the points were lifted out. Examining them with a 
doublet, I found them to be insects with beautifully curled 
and long straight hairs. Sixty-six were in this way taken from 
the surface of the solution. Not knowing exactly what to 
do with them, I placed some in spirit of wine and acetic 
acid, which happened to be at hand, and the rest in water in 
a test-tube. These were replaced in the dark cupboard; the 
others left to diffused daylight. On the first appearance they 
looked like very miniature fat sheep with eight legs, curled 
and straight feathers from the back, a long depending 
snout, which was always turned down in the liquid, and some 
with a very short tail or tubercle. On a slip of glass they 
looked like a mass of fat of a dirty yellow colour, the snouts 
and legs of the parents being darker and more defined than 
those of the rest of the progeny. Sunday intervening, they 
were further examined on the Monday. Those in the acetic 
acid were all at the bottom of the tube. Their colour had 
altered to a darkish brown. Of those in water a fev/ w^ere at 
the bottom, the rest floating on its surface. None were found 
in the stoppered bottle, which had also been kept in the dark, 
■wrapped in paper. 
A few were now mounted in a cell with a little alcohol and 
water, and placed under the compound microscope, but I 
could not discern their general structure. They appeared to 
be covered with a granular deposit. Concluding this to be 
some silver compound entangled at the surface, it became a 
question how to rem.ove it. At first washing with w^ater and 
a fine sable pencil was tried ; but the insects got so injured, 
and were so exceedingly tender, that this plan w^as set aside, 
and they were soaked for a short time in a solution of 
cyanide of potassium. This quickly cleared oil' the deposit, 
and also seemed to abrade or break up the substance of 
body; for they became more tender, so that I could not 
keep the form at all perfect under the slightest pressure. 
Alcohol mixed w4th the cyanide solution answered no better. 
Others were nov/ placed m a solution of iodine in iodide of 
potassium. This turned them yellow; and on being replaced 
in a watch-glass with a little water, a well-marked precipitate 
of iodide of silver was thrown down. They were now re- 
moved to a solution of hyposulphite of soda. By alternately 
