ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
823 
portion of tlie slides, so that all they required to render them as good as 
new was a washing in water. The remaining dirty ones were treated 
to a hath of oil of turpentine, where they rested for a few days. From 
this they were washed with alcohol, and then finished in water. The 
few refractory ones that held out during all this time were made as 
clean as ever with benzol. Although considerable time elapsed before 
the last slide was cleaned, it required but a few minutes of actual labour 
in the entire process. The time consumed is in letting them stand in 
the different liquids. Nor is the process expensive, as the oil of tur- 
pentine did most of the work. Hereafter I shall divide my old slides 
into three classes, and clean them separately, so that less alcohol will 
be required. The first box will contain slides that can be washed clean 
with water ; the second lot will be those that alcohol will clean, and the 
third the ones requiring benzol. Cover-glasses are so cheap that I do 
not save them unless they are easily cleaned with water. I find it very 
difficult to properly clean thin cover-glasses that have cement on them.” 
Anilin Oil in Microscopical Technique.* — The brown colour of anilin 
oil, says Dr. Sucliannek, the result of oxidation, is no bar to its use as a 
clarifying medium, or if intended for mixing with absolute alcohol. 
It is, however, of importance that it should be quite free from water, and 
it is advised that the oil should be distilled in the usual way and that the 
first 10-12 ccm. of distillate 
should be removed. The rest Fig. 105. 
of the distillate should be re- 
ceived in a dry flask in which 
have been placed pieces of 
caustic potash. By this means 
the last traces of water will 
be effectually removed. The 
chief use of this medium is as 
a hydrant and clarifier, but it 
is also employed as a sub- 
stitute for oil of cloves in 
paraffin imbedding. 
The author describes a 
glass capsule (fig. 105) which 
he uses for dehydrating pre- 
parations in the anilin oil. 
In the capsule is placed a glass tray perforated with sixteen holes and 
supported on three legs. Underneath the tray are placed some pieces 
of caustic potash, and the anilin oil rises above the plate-level some 
millimetres. This device allows the preparations to be thoroughly 
dehydrated. 
Pier sol, G-. A. — Fixing Paraffin Sections to tlie Slide. 
Univ. Med. Magazine Philadelphia , II. (1889-90) p. 149. 
Stirling.— Dry Cover-glass Microscopical Preparations. 
Journ. of Anat., XXIV. (1890) p. 160. 
Zeitsclir. f. Wiss. Mikr., vii. (1890) pp. 156-9 (1 fig.). 
