THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
43 
«ead you a sample by mail, enough to start with. 
Don't send stamped envelopes; also, prepare your 
paste before you send for the eels. The paste 
should be about as thick as cream. To examine 
them, mix a little of the paste with a drop of water 
on a glass slide, cover it with a thin glass cover, 
and place on the stage of the microscope. 
Plants Growing Under the Microscope. 
This is something that we read of in most books 
on the microscope, and although it is not by any 
means true plant growth, it is very curious and 
beautiful. Procure a little CoUomia seed, which 
may be had from most seedsmen, but if you cannot 
get it easily, we will send you a few seeds, if you 
will send a stamp to pay postage. Take one of the 
seeds, and with a razor, or very sharp knife, cut off 
a very thin slice. Lay this slice on a slip of glass, 
<an ordinary slide), cover it with a thin glass cover, 
and, the microscope being in a vertical position, 
lay it on the stage. If you wish to incline the 
microscope, you must use a square glass cover, and 
not a round one, and hold the cover to its place by 
means of a very fine rubber ring. Now, bring the 
thin slice of seed into focus, and then apply a drop 
of water to the edge of the glass. The water will 
penetrate between the glasses and moisten the 
seed, which will at once throw out a very large 
number of spiral fibres — giving it the appearance 
of veritable germination. Beginners will find it 
•easier to perform this experiment if one will apply 
the water while the other looks through the instru- 
ment. A single drop is enough. 
should be circular, and the edges, even where bal- 
sam is used, should be covered with a ring of var- 
nish, put on with the turn-table. Some use var- 
nish of very bright colors, laid on in rings. This 
looks very striking, and if the colors are well ar- 
ranged they look very pretty, but one tires of them, 
and dull, quiet colors will be found to give the best 
satisfaction in the long run. 
BOOK NOTICES. 
A Sanguinary Hoax. 
A few days ago a young man named Warren, of 
Jersey City, reported that he had shot a burglar 
who had dashed through the parlor window on to 
the porch, whence he had escaped to the street. 
Several spots of blood were found on the porch, 
which the young man insisted afforded a corrobor- 
ation of his story. The police, however, suspected 
the truth of the young man's story, and therefore 
they had the blood examined by a microscopist, 
who pronounced it that of a bird. So this brave 
young man had to own that instead of killing a bold 
burglar, he had only killed a chicken ! 
Finishing Microscopic Slides. 
Few things are more attractive, or afford greater 
pleasure to the owners than a cabinet of good 
slides, and the pleasure which they give is greatly 
increased if they are not only good as objects for 
study, but neat in appearance. Of late years the 
lides which have come most generally into favor 
are those of plain glass with ground edges. Paper 
covers are so apt to become soiled, worn and torn, 
that they are not much used. When uncovered 
filideg with ground edges are used, the thin covers 
The Amateur Mectia.nic'g Practical Hand- 
Book. Describing the Difi^erent Tools required 
in the Workshop; the Uses of them and how to 
Use them; also Examples of Different Kinds of 
Work, etc., with full Descriptions and Drawings 
By Arthur H. G. Hobson. Price $1.25. Phila- 
delphia: Claxton, Remsen & Hafifelfluger. 
This is a small book of 114 pages, and is therefore 
rather a collection of useful notes upon the most 
important topics, than a systematic hand-book. 
The subjects which are discussed are: The Lathe 
and its Uses; Drilling and Planing Machines; the 
Vice, Bench and Hand Tools; Drawing and Pattern 
Making; the Brass Furnace and Moulding; How to 
Make a Horizontal Engine; Boilers. It is well 
illustrated, and the directions given are sound and 
practical. Amateurs will find it a useful assistant. 
Robinson^iS Kpitome of Liiterature. Monthly 
$1 per year. Philadelphia: F. W. Robinson. 
The extent of the current literature issued month 
by month is something wonderful. So great is it 
that no man can keep abreast of even the scientific 
Uterature of the day. It was therefore a good idea 
to give each month the chief contents of all the 
important magazines and journals published in the 
country, as well as a hst of the books, with extended 
notices of the more prominent ones. In this way 
readers who have neither the money to spend nor 
the time required to labor through large piles of 
journals, are enabled to pick out what they want, to 
the exclusion of irrelevant matter. The journal be- 
fore us is a welcome visitor to our table, and must 
prove of great value to every intelligent reader. 
The Telephone. A Lecture entitled "Researches 
in Electric Telephony," by Prof. Alexander Gra- 
ham Bell, delivered before the Society of Tele- 
graph Engineers, Oct. 31, 1877. Price 60 cents 
London and New York: E. & F. N. Spon. 
Professor Bell here gives a very complete history 
of the telephone, and incidentally a very clear and 
succinct account of this wonderful invention. The 
lecture is very fully illustrated with wood engrav- 
ings, showing the construction of the instrument 
at different stages of its history, and from these 
engravings it would be easy for any smart boy to go 
to work and construct a pair of telephones for him- 
self. The pamphlet before us will prove of great 
interest, both to the general reader who desires to 
have clear and accurate ideas of the instrument, 
and to the amateur who desires to experiment. 
