262 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
clothes, &c., at 13°, and from 36°-48°. In the first experiments Bacillus 
rubiginosus and B. anthracis were put under a bell-jar with formalin. In 
from 3-12 hours all the spores were quite dead (with 5 per cent, carbolic 
acid this end is not attained in six days). Sporeless bacteria died in 
a quarter of an hour. In test-tubes closed with cotton-wool the spores 
were not killed before 48 hours ; but if the wool were damped with 
formalin, it only took 24 hours. In the next series the experiments 
were conducted on a larger scale. The results were quite favourable, 
but too much formalin was required to wet the clothes, and the smell 
from them was very unpleasant. The chief advantage is that disinfection 
can be carried out at ordinary room temperature and the clothes not 
damaged, as is so frequently the case at a temperature of 100°. In the 
third series the temperature was increased to 50°. At this temperature 
anthrax spores were killed in a quarter of an hour. Books were com- 
pletely disinfected at 60°. 
Formaldehyde and Formol.* — Messrs. G. ‘H. Parker and R. Floyd 
deny, it seems to us justly, Mr. A. B. Lee’s allegation that their previous 
paper on formol has added to the confusion which has arisen in regard 
to formaldehyde, formaline, formol, and formalose. They recommended, 
for preserving a sheep’s brain, 2 per cent, solution of formol, which 
surely means a mixture of 2 volumes of formol with 98 volumes of 
water. That formol is 40 per cent, formaldehyde was clearly stated. 
The brain in question is, after six months, in excellent preservation. 
Formalin in the Zoological and Histological Laboratory.f — Mr. 
D. S. Kellicott thus summarises the advantages of formalin for zoological 
purposes. It is cheaper than any other method that gives good results ; 
it gives results in much less time ; the colours are better preserved, and 
there is less change of form by shrinkage or by swelling ; its penetrating 
power is excellent, notably for insects, Crustacea, Molluscs, and Vermes. 
Its disadvantages are that it is extremely volatile, and jars have to be 
sealed with care. The water solution will freeze, and not all museums 
are at all times above 0° C. In 5 per cent, solution formalin is also a 
useful histological reagent. 
Mr. Wright’s Method of Mounting Foraminifera. — Mr. Malcolm- 
son describes the method employed by Mr. Wright, of Belfast, for 
preserving Foraminifera. 
The slide on which the specimens are mounted consists of two parts, 
a tray and a holder. The tray is composed of a piece of cardboard 3 in. 
by 1 in. in size, on which is pasted a piece of paper, having a series of 
divisions numbered 1 to 100 printed in black upon it. Another piece 
of cardboard, from the centre of which a rectangular piece has been 
removed, is fixed to the front of the first piece of cardboard, and the 
specimens are mounted one by one upon the black surface. The holder 
consists of an ordinary 3 in. by 1 in. glass slip, a piece of cardboard of 
the same size, and a piece of paper large enough to enclose the whole. 
The card is glued to the centre of the paper, the tray is placed on 
* Anat. Anzeig., xi. (1896) pp. 567-8. 
t Trans. Amer. Micr. Soc., xvii. (1896) pp. 331-5. 
j Proc. Scottish Micr. Soc., 1894-5, pp. 212-3. 
