72 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
While pollen requires little or no pre- 
paration for mere examination, it often 
puzzles the beginner to mount it so that it 
will retain its beauty. If we wish to keep 
it as an opaque object, it is necessary 
merely to dry it and mount it in a cell 
that is perfectly tight. The new wax cell 
is one of the best for this purpose, though 
the " cement cell," as it is called, is the 
most easily made and does not require 
any tools except the turn-table. The bot- 
tom of the cell should be made black, and 
this may be done either by pasting a piece 
of black paper on the under side of the 
A B 
C D 
POLIiEN GEAINS. 
cell, or coating the bottom with some 
dark material — beeswax, colored black 
with very fine lampblack, being as good 
as any. The secret of success in preserv- 
ing pollen in this way lies in thoroughly 
drying it, and a very excellent method is 
to take the whole anther, press it gently 
between sheets of soft, white paper, and 
dry it. 
Pollen may also be mounted in Canada 
balsam, and for this purpose the balsam 
should be dissolved in benzole or ether, so 
that no heat may be required. 
Those of our readers who have means 
for obtaining dark ground illumination, 
will find many of the pollens very beau- 
tiful when shown in this way. They shine 
like brilliant stars in a dark sky, and 
show their peculiarities and structure in a 
way that is wonderfully distinct. 
Complimentary if not Pleasant. 
rpHE little book, entitled the " Workshop 
J- Companion," which we published 
last Fall, seems to have secured the com- 
plete confidence and approbation of the; 
scientific and industrial i3ress, for we find 
it copied everywhere, and we regret to be 
obliged to say, generally without credit. 
A recent issue of the Scientific American 
has a two column article on Cements, 
credited to some other journal. This 
article is the chapter on cements copied 
from our book verbatim et literatim. So, 
too, the Boston Journal of Chemistry quotes 
from the London Pharmaceutical Journal, 
an article on cements, which it charac- 
terises as "exceedingly valuable," and 
advises "all housekeepers, and those en- 
gaged in work in the industrial arts," to 
preserve the number of the journal con- 
taining it. Our readers will, therefore, be 
glad to know that they can have this 
article and many others of equal value, in 
very convenient shape by procuring the 
" Workshop Companion," 
The article in question, contains much 
that is common property, but a very large 
part of it has been rewritten, carefully cor- 
rected, and the special circumstances in 
which the given directions are applicable 
are pointed out. Moreover, the intro- 
duction is entirely original with the au- 
thor of the work. In slightly different 
form, it was published in the first volume 
of the Technologist, and has been probably 
quoted and stolen by more newspaper 
writers and book-makers than any other 
article within our knowledge. 
Such general quotation and praise is 
certainly very complimentary, but would 
be more pleasant if accompanied with 
proper credit. 
—Wood can be ornamented by punch- 
ing down carefully in patterns, planing 
off a little, and then wetting; the parts' 
punched down show in relief above- 
the planed surface and make quite a 
puzzle. 
