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SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Cl) Collecting- Objects, including Culture Processes. 
Procuring and Preparing Protista found in the Stomachs of 
Ruminants.* — To obtain Protista from the stomachs of oxen, says Dr. A. 
Fiorentini, it is merely necessary to open that viscus with a knife, and 
gather some of the gastric juice in test-tubes. In order to keep the 
animals alive it is advisable to keep the tubes immersed in water at a 
temperature of 30°— 35°. To examine these Protozoa alive, it is necessary 
to make use of Schultze’s or Ranvier’s hot-stage, so that the slide may 
be kept at 35°. But the following method has the advantage of 
simplicity. Heat the slide over a spirit-lamp until it becomes warm. 
Then place thereon a drop of the fluid containing the animals to be 
examined, and cover with the cover-glass. Next with a pipette take 
some boiling water and drop it in lines on the slide, taking care, how- 
ever, that it does not mix with the fluid under the cover-glass. This 
device will keep the preparation warm sufficiently long to examine the 
Protozoa alive. When cold a new preparation must be made. 
For fixing the animals, the author used a 1 per cent, osmic, and 
for staining the nuclei and nucleoli fuchsin, alum-carmine, and alum- 
cochineal. Glycerin and Canada balsam were used for clearing up the 
preparations when osmic acid had blackened them or made them 
obscure. 
Useful Collecting Device-t — Mr. J. Walker finding his collecting 
bottle, a modified Wright, somewhat cumbersome, “ decided to use a 
smaller bottle, and have the strainer (I use bolting silk 10,000 to the 
inch) outside instead of inside. I therefore procured a bottle holding 
about 4 oz. A square bottle with a wide mouth is preferable, though 
a round one will answer well. I bored four holes opposite each other, 
1 in. above the bottom and about 3/8 in. in diameter, and enlarged the 
openings in a direction parallel with the length of the bottle, until 
within an inch of the neck. Over these four oblong apertures I 
cemented fine bolting silk or other desirable material with shellac, 
and when dry, the bottle was ready for use. To those not having 
the tools needed for drilling glass, I would recommend a small tin 
can or box, such as that in which Colman’s mustard is sold, or the 
common round pepper-box obtainable from the grocery stores, the lid 
making a good coarse strainer. 
In working with it, the currents of water passing through the meshes 
of the strainer will cause fine debris to collect on the inside, which in 
this case is easily kept clean with a small brush, a piece of wood, or a 
stalk of grass. The concentrated material will be found at the bottom 
of the vessel, and can be transferred to another small bottle carried for 
the purpose.” 
Collecting-bottle for Rotifers.^ — Mr. A. Pell remarks, “Here is 
the ‘ boss ’ collecting implement at last. Take one of the new lard 
bottles which hold a quart, the mouth being about 4 in. across, 
with a metal cover that screws to the neck, and a handle by which it is 
readily carried. Make a tube of muslin or of linen, in any desirable 
* Jouin. de Micrograpkie, xiv. (1890) pp. 15-6. 
t The Microscope, ix. (1889) pp. 372-4. J Op. c., x. (1890) p. 151. 
