280 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Pacini’s solution : — Sodium chloride, 1 part ; corrosive sublimate, 
2 parts; water, 113 parts; glycerin, 13 parts. Let it stand three 
months, then use 1 part with 3 of water ; filter before using. Recom- 
mended as a preservative of delicate tissues. 
Phosphorus (Stephenson) : — Concentrated solution in carbon disul- 
phide. High refractive index ; difficult and dangerous to use ; takes 
fire spontaneously in the air. 
Ripart’s solution: — Camphor water, 75 parts; distilled water, 75 
parts ; glacial acetic acid, 1 part ; copper acetate, 0 • 3 part ; copper 
chloride, 0*3 part. Useful for delicate vegetable tissues, desmids, 
Confervae, &c. 
Styrax : — Chloroform solution. For diatoms ; high refractive index. 
American styrax : — Chloroform solution filtered and hardened, Colour 
as light as that of good balsam ; high refractive index ; for diatoms and 
fine tissues. 
Harting’s corrosive sublimate solution : — Corrosive sublimate, 1 part ; 
water 200 to 500 parts. For blood-corpuscles, &c. 
Williams’ solution: — Saltpetre, 2 oz. ; sal-ammoniac, 2 drams ; cor- 
rosive sublimate, 1 dram ; glycerin, 2 oz. ; alcohol, 1 pint ; water, 2 quarts. 
Let stand for several days ; filter. More properly a preservative for large 
anatomical and other specimens. 
Wickersheim’s solution : — Alum, 100 grm. ; saltpetre, 12 grm. ; 
potash, 60 grm. ; arsenious oxide, 20 grm. ; boiled water, 3000 grm. 
A jDreservative of large anatomical and other specimens. 
Virodtzeffs solution: — Glycerin, 2160 parts; water, 1080 parts; 
alcohol, 45 parts ; thymol, 5 parts. A preservative of large anatomical 
and other specimens. 
Use of Gelatin in fixing Museum Specimens.* — Herr E. Schmidt 
recommentls the use of gelatin- instead of glass-plates as a basis on 
which to fix small animals for demonstration. The spirit-specimen is 
laid on a moistened portion of the gelatin-plate, and is fixed as the 
gelatin dries, or it is attached by silver thread. Herr E. Weltner 
describes how small and delicate specimens may be attached to glass 
plates by means of concentrated (aqueous) solution of fine French 
gelatin. The spirit-specimens are as far as possible dried from the 
involved alcohol, and then fixed by the gelatin on a warm glass plate. 
Sponges, Hydroids, Anthozoa, Ctenophores, Bryozoa, Tunicates, and 
such delicate animals as Salpa , Ophrydium, and Collozoum, are in this 
way successfully prepared. The gelatin solution must be concentrated, 
else it turns white when put into alcohol. For Medusae and similar 
organisms, Weltner has adopted the glycerin and gelatin method recom- 
mended by List. Gelatin is dissolved in equal parts of glycerin and 
water ; the cold mixture is again dissolved by boiling with about three 
times as much glycerin and water (again in equal parts) ; the almost 
cooled result is spread on a glass plate ; on this the spirit-specimen 
with the alcohol dried off is then laid. A douche of absolute alcohol 
will hasten the fixing. The objection to the method seems to be that 
the cementing material turns white when the specimen is returned to 
alcohol. For the closure of glass vessels, Herr Weltner finds the use of 
gutta-percha most effective. 
* SB. Gesell. Naturf. Freunde, 1890, pp. 95-8. 
