4 OS 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
power of resorption, and the greater number of nuclei is indicative of 
greater vital activity. 
(3) Cutting, including Imbedding and Microtomes. 
A Microtome for 50 Cents.* — Dr. Hinz has described his instru- 
ment in the ‘Omaha Clinic.’ The main body is a tin pot 3 in. high by 
8 in diameter. A bridge 2 in. wide crosses the top (or open end of the 
can) and is soldered to the sides of the pot. In its centre is an opening 
which is the termination of the well, and around the well opening is a 
glass ring over which the knife is to glide. The space around the well 
can be filled with ice for freezing. Connected with the well he has a 
milled screw 4 in. long and with forty threads to the inch. One revolu- 
tion produces a section 1/40 in. thick ; one-half revolution, a section 
1/80 in., &c. An amputating knife or razor can be used to cut the 
sections. 
Microtome for Cutting Large Sections.-)- — Herr O. Schultze de- 
scribes a new instrument which he has devised for cutting sections of 
a whole organ or region of the human body. The sections are laid 
between glass plates and stained so that they can be used for lectures 
on systematic and topographical anatomy. The instrument is made 
by Schanze, of Leipzig, and constructed on lines similar to those of 
other microtomes by this mechanician. The knife-slide is 80 cm. long, 
and the knife 53 cm. long and 9 cm. broad. The object is fixed to a 
square iron plate (20 cm. a side) by means of collodion, and the plate 
clamped to the object- holder, which is moved upwards by means of a 
micrometer screw. The instrument is capable of making sections of a 
whole brain 5/100 mm. thick. Before cutting the section, the surface is 
smeared over with a thin layer of collodion, and each section as it is cut 
is received on a layer of thin paper. 
It requires two persons to work this machine, one to move the knife, 
the other to manipulate and look after the section. 
The apparatus is so heavy that it takes two strong men to move it. 
Glass Vessel for Serial Sections.}:— Dr. S. A. Garcia describes a 
convenient form of dish or large capsule subdivided into compartments, 
which he has devised for the easy manipulation of sections in series. 
The vessel is rectangular, made of glass and covered with a closely 
fitting lid, It is obvious that the plan of the apparatus will allow the 
construction of any number of compartments of any desired size. The 
subdivisions are made of mica, a substance which, while fitting close 
enough to the bottom to prevent the sections from escaping from their 
proper compartment, allows the fluid free passage all over. The author’s 
original apparatus was constructed of nickel, but this does not seem so 
useful for the purpose as glass. As an example the case of objects im- 
bedded in celloidin is adduced. Here three of these dishes, one filled 
with alcohol, one with alcohol and ether, and the third with oil of cloves, 
will greatly facilitate manipulation, as the sections are easily transferred 
* The Microscope, xii. (1892) p. 231. 
f SB. d. Physik.-Med. Gesell. za Wurzburg, 1892, pp. 116-7. 
X Zeitschr. f. wiss. Mikr., ix. (1893) pp. 313-5 (1 fig.). 
