160 THE NORTHERN MICROSCOPIST. 

time, and the hair is not again dressed for a month or two. ‘The small stool is 
used to support the neck, to prevent the hair being dis-arranged. The thought 
at once struck me that such a style of hair dressing would be particularly con- 
ducive to the plentiful propagation of Pediculus capitis, and that I might by 
careful search find traces of these interesting and beautiful creatures; and on 
further examination I discovered dozens of the small white eggs of this parasite 
in recesses of the carving on the little stool. When I announced this, there 
was quite a commotion, and the question was asked if there was any danger of 
the eggs hatching. Evidently for the moment, the fact of the many years 
which had elapsed since the stool was brought from Africa was lost sight of. 
However, I was able to shew under the microscope that the little lids which 
give such a pretty finish to the eggs of this and of many other parasites were 
in each lifted off, shewing that the little tenant had made his exit at some pre- 
vious time. 
In mentioning this as another instance of how microscopic examination, of 
an object which apparently was of little interest to the microscopist, may con- 
firm or confute statements made about it. 
The missionary’s tale about this peculiar little and apparently uncomfortable 
stool, being used as a pillow, was abundantly confirmed by the presence of 
these eggs. 
MANCHESTER MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.—RAMBLE TO STALEY- 
BRUSHES.—The members of the above Society, under the leadership of Mr. W. 
Stanley, paid a visit to Staleybrushes on Saturday, May 6, for the purpose of 
collecting objects of general microscopic interest. This neighbourhood has lost 
none of its interest to field naturalists, although considerably altered by the for- 
mation of the Swineshaw Waterworks, four large reservoirs with a total capacity 
of 76 million gallons, for the supply of water to the Districts of Ashton, Staly- 
bridge, Dukinfield, Mosley, and Hurst. The members were accompanied by 
Mr. Robert Stanley, late chairman to the Stalybridge Committee, who kindly 
explained the process of Fish culture carried out under his direction during the 
last five years, and which has resulted in over 30,000 Trout and Windermere 
Char being reared from spawn and placed in the dams. The spawn, when 
taken from the female, is placed in a basin and covered with the melt of the 
male; as soon as impregnation takes place a distinct change of colour is 
observed and the eggs are then put on grills, slips of glass placed edgewise in a 
long narrow box with a layer of sand at the bottom, and through which a con- 
stant stream of water is kept slowly running. The time of hatching varies with 
the temperature from 70 to 100 days; the cold and long season breeding the 
healthiest and most hardy fish. By means of a quill two or three young trout 
were teased out of the egg, and were exceedingly interesting, as when newly 
born they are about half an inch long and perfectly transparent, showing clearly 
the interior organs and circulation of the blood by the aid of a small pocket lens. 
After hatching, the young fish are placed in small ponds and tanks specially 
prepared for their reception until they attain a considerable size, and are able, 
when placed in the large reservoirs, to defend themselves against the attacks of 
their voracious elders. Leaving the fish house the party wended their way 
along the stream which winds in and out for about a mile in a very picturesque 
manner, and is studded with numerous waterfalls and shaded pools full of 
microscopic life at this season of the year. Some very fine views of the sur- 
rounding country were obtained as we ascended the gorge; Saddleworth with 
its Potts and Pans, Hatshead pike, with its ancient beacon, and the old Saxon 
town of Ashton-under- Lyne with its Parish Church of St. Michael, a fine specimen 
of the later English ecclesiastical architecture. It has been several times rebuilt, 
and was founded anterior to 1291. After striking the Roman road, which runs 
along the top of the ridge called North Britain, a good picture of the whole of 
the Longdendale valley is seen with Mottram on the right; Woodhead on the 

