ELEVENTH YEAR. VOL. XXII. No. 548.

CONTENTS.

THE FLORIDA LAND TORTOISE-GOPHER, GOPHERUS
POLYPHEMUS. Henry G. Hubbard..
NEW METHODS OF TREATING THE SICK. William
C. Krauss..
NOTES ON ARSENIC. Jas. Lewis Howe...

A NEW IDEA IN MICROSCOPE CONSTRUCTION. C.
W. Woodworth...
SUMMER WORK IN MARINE ZOOLOGY AT NEWPORT.
W. E. Castle..
BACTERIOLOGY IN THE DAIRY. C. C. Georgeson.
INDIAN PAINTINGS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
David P. Barrows..

NOTES AND NEWS..

NOTES ON THE OCCURRENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF UREDINEE. M. A. Carleton..

IN MEMORIAM. THE REV. W. C. LUKIS, M.A.,
F.S.A. W. Gregson

OBSERVATIONS ON DUCKLINGS.
BACTERIA IN HEN'S EGGS.

A MALAY FIRE-SYRINGE.

57

58

59

59

60

60

61

61

62

C. Lloyd Morgan. 63 Melvin A. Brannon.. 64 F. W. Rudler...

L'ORIGINE DES ARYENS. G. DeLapouge..

THE SCIENTIFIC ALLIANCE OF NEW YORK. Jos.
F. James..

A NOTE ON THE APPLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC
METHOD TO LITERATURE. C. Michener
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR..

BOOK REVIEWS....

AMONG THE PUBLISHERS..

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NEW METHOD OF PROTECTING BUILDINGS FROM LIGHTNING. SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE HOUSE! Lightning Destroys. Shall it be Your House or a Pound of Copper?

PROTECTION FROM LIGHTNING.

What is the Problem?

IN seeking a means of protection from lightning-discharges, we have in view two objects,-the one the prevention of damage to buildings, and the other the prevention of injury to life. In order to destroy a building in whole or in part, It is necessary that work should be done; that is, as physicists express it, energy is required. Just before the lightning-discharge takes place, the energy capable of doing the damage which we seek to prevent exists in the column of air extending from the cloud to the earth in some form that makes it capable of appearing as what we call electricity. We will therefore call it electrical energy. What this electrical energy is, it is not necessary for us to consider in this place; but that it exists there can be no doubt, as it manifests itself in the destruction of buildings. The problem that we have to deal with, therefore, is the conversion of this energy into some other form, and the accomplishment of this in such a way as shall result in the least injury to property and life.

Why Have the Old Rods Failed?

When lightning-rods were first proposed, the science of energetics was entirely undeveloped; that is to say, in the middle of the last century scientific men had not come to recognize the fact that the different forms of energyheat, electricity, mechanical power, etc.- were convertible one into the other, and that each could produce just so much of each of the other forms, and no more. The doctrine of the conservation and correlation of energy was first clearly worked out in the early part of this century. There were, however, some facts known in regard to electricity a hundred and forty years ago; and among these were the attracting power of points for an electric spark, and the conducting power of metals. Lightning-rods were therefore introduced with the idea that the electricity existing in the lightning-discharge could be conveyed around the building which it was proposed to protect, and that the building would thus be saved.

The question as to dissipation of the energy involved was entirely ignored, naturally; and from that time to this, in spite of the best endeavors of those Interested, lightning-rods constructed in accordance with Franklin's principle have not furnished satisfactory protection. The reason for this is apparent when it is considered that the electrical energy existing in the atmosphere before the discharge, or, more exactly, in the column of dielectric from the cloud to the earth, above referred to, reaches its maximum value on the surface of the conductors that chance to be within the column of dielectric; so that the greatest display of energy will be on the surface of the very lightningrods that were meant to protect, and damage results, as so often proves to be the case.

It will be understood, of course, that this display of energy on the surface of the old lightning-rods is aided by their being more or less insulated from the earth, but in any event the very existence of such a mass of metal as an old lightning-rod can only tend to produce a disastrous dissipation of electrical energy upon its surface,-"to draw the lightning," as it is so commonly put.

Is there a Better Means of Protection?

Having cleared our minds, therefore, of any idea of conducting electricity, and keeping clearly in view the fact that in providing protection against lightning we must furnish some means by which the electrical energy may be harmlessly dissipated, the question arises, "Can an improved form be given to the rod so that it shall ald in this dissipation?"

As the electrical energy involved manifests itself on the surface of conductors, the improved rod should be metallic; but, instead of making a large rod, suppose that we make it comparatively small in size, so that the total amount of metal running from the top of the house to some point a little below the foundations shall not exceed one pound. Suppose, again, that we introduce numerous insulating joints in this rod. We shall then have a rod that experience shows will be readily destroyed-will be readily dissipated - when a discharge takes place; and it will be evident, that, so far as the electrical energy is consumed in doing this, there will be the less to do other damage.

The only point that remains to be proved as to the utility of such a rod is to show that the dissipation of such a conductor does not tend to injure other bodies in its immediate vicinity. On this point I can only say that I have found no case where such a conductor (for instance, a bell wire) has been dissipated, even if resting against a plastered wall, where there has been any material damage done to surrounding objects.

Of course, it is readily understood that such an explosion cannot take place in a confined space without the rupture of the walls (the wire cannot be boarded over); but in every case that I have found recorded this dissipation takes place just as gunpowder burns when spread on a board. The objects against which the conductor rests may be stained, but they are not shattered, I would therefore make clear this distinction between the action of electrical energy when dissipated on the surface of a large conductor and when dissipated on the surface of a comparatively small or easily dissipated conductor. When dissipated on the surface of a large conductor, --a conductor so strong as to resist the explosive effect, - damage results to objects around. When dissipated on the surface of a small conductor, the conductor goes, but the other objects around are saved

A Typical Case of the Action of a Small Conductor. Franklin, in a letter to Collinson read before the London Royal Society, Dec. 18, 1755, describing the partial destruction by lightning of a church-tower at Newbury, Mass., wrote, "Near the bell was fixed an iron hammer to strike the hours; and from the tall of the hammer a wire went down through a small gimlet-hole in the floor that the bell stood upon, and through a second floor in like manner; then horizontally under and near the plastered ceiling of that second floor, till it came near a plastered wall; then down by the side of that wall to a clock, which stood about twenty feet below the bell. The wire was not bigger than a common knitting needle. The spire was split all to pieces by the lightning, and the parts flung in all directions over the square in which the church stood, so that nothing remained above the bell. The lightring passed between the hammer and the clock in the above-mentioned wire, without hurting either of the floors, or having any effect upon them (except making the gimlet-holes, through which the wire passed, a little bigger), and without hurting the plastered wall, or any part of the building, so far as the aforesaid wire and the pendulum-wire of the clock extended; which latter wire was about the thickness of a goose-quill. From the end of the pendulum, down quite to the ground, the building was exceedingly rent and damaged. No part of the aforementioned long, small wire, between the clock and the hammer, could be found, except about two inches that hung to the tail of the hammer, and about as much that was fastened to the clock; the rest being exploded, and its particles dissipated in smoke and air, as gunpowder is by common fire, and had only left a black smutty track on the plastering, three or four inches broad, darkest in the middle, and fainter towards the edges, all along the ceiling, under which it passed, and down the wall." One hundred feet of the Hodges Patent Lightning Dispeller (made under patents of N. D. C. Hodges, Editor of Science) will be mailed, postpaid, to any address, on receipt of five dollars ($5).

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THE FLORIDA LAND TORTOISE-GOPHER, GOPHERUS

POLYPHEMUS.

BY HENRY G. HUBBARD, DETROIT, MICH.

It seems very strange that so little has been known, or at least has been published about the habits of this very common animal. Winter visitors to Florida and the Gulf States often observe their burrows on the sandy ridges, each with its yawning entrance and scattered mound of subsoil, and are not unlikely to mistake them for the woodchuck holes with which they are familiar at the north. It is the permanent resident, however, that is most likely to have some acquaintance with the animal itself; for only in the hottest weather and at noonday does the gopher leave its burrow to feed upon the surrounding grass and herbage.

In summer, when the thermometer is in the nineties, the animal comes forth daily, some time between the hours of eleven A.M. and two P.M., and takes a careful look around to assure itself that no danger threatens. Then, if no ominous sounds disturb the stillness of the sultry air, it raises itself high on its ungainly legs and starts briskly off for the nearest patch of grass or cultivated field.

For about an hour the gopher wanders about with its long neck outstretched and plucks ravenously at every green vegetable within its reach. Often, indeed, in its eagerness it cracks up and swallows dead twigs and dry leaves together with the more succulent food, until its ravenous appetite is appeased. It then retires to the bottom of its burrow in the moist, cool sand, there to remain until the morrow or, if the season be rainy, until the next dry, hot day.

The gopher is a very timid and alert animal, and although it feeds with great gusto and apparent abandon, it is seldom so absorbed in its work that it fails to hear the sound of approaching footsteps. The near approach of any large amimal sends it scurrying back to its hole. It requires lively work to head off its retreat, but if surprised and captured at a distance from its hole, like other turtles, it retires into its shell, and, drawing its plethoric and scaly fore paws like double doors over the front of its shell, it resigns itself supinely to its fate, and never under any circumstances attempts to bite or otherwise defend itself.

In winter the gopher very rarely quits its burrow, and comes forth to feed only on the very hottest days at noon. In the warm Florida soil it is never torpid, but remains quiescent at the end of its gallery awaiting the return of dog day weather.

A well grown gopher measures 10 inches in length by 74 inches in width and 4 inches in thickness, and weighs about 6 pounds. Individuals are sometimes found measuring 12 × 9 × 5 inches, and weighing 9 or 10 pounds.

They are sold in the markets of many towns at high prices, and are eaten by the negroes and lower classes every where in the south. The flesh is excellent in quality, very tender, of a rich red color and has the appearance, flavor and odor of beef. But the supply of meat obtainable even from individuals of the largest size is scanty, the greater part of the body cavity being occupied by the enormous gut crammed with grass and the long intestines filled with wads of fibrous dung. The flesh is greatly relished by all carnivorous animals, but a gopher of average size has little to fear from their attacks. The largest dogs are unable to bring their canine teeth to bear upon any vulnerable part unless the specimen is young and small enough to be taken into their mouths.

In May or June the female deposits in the sand outside of her burrow from one dozen to twenty eggs. The eggs are perfectly

spherical, pure white in color and have a diameter of 13 inches. More beautiful objects can hardly be found to grace an oölogical cabinet.

The burrows of the gopher are excavated by the aid of a remarkable spade-shaped projection on the front of the under shell, assisted by the powerful fossorial front legs, which are armed for this purpose with strong blunt claws.

In the sandy uplands of Florida the galleries descend at an angle of about 35°, and reach a vertical depth of seven to nine feet from the surface of the ground. They follow a straight course unless deflected by a root or some other obstruction and usually terminate in a layer of indurated soil.. The length of the gallery varies from twelve to eighteen feet. The temperature at the lower end does not vary greatly throughout the year, and will generally not fall below 74° in winter nor rise above 79° in summer. The conditions as to moisture are probably equally constant. At Crescent City, Fla., where these observations were made, the permanent water table lies at an average depth of eighteen feet. The burrow of a gopher once completed becomes its permanent residence, and it is with extreme difficulty that the animal can be compelled to vacate and excavate a new home.

It is inhabited by the same individual for long periods of time, and if the popular belief in the great age attained by turtles in general and the land tortoise in particular is well founded, some of these reptilian domiciles may have antedated the present century, and even rival in antiquity the dwellings of man. Certain burrows in this vicinity are pointed out as having been in existence twenty-four years ago, when the oldest orange groves were planted. This necessarily implies a continuous occupancy by the same individual tortoise during that period, since if the galleries are abandoned they shortly become filled up and obliterated in our shifting sand.

Every naturalist will appreciate under the above showing what unusually favorable conditions here exist for the preservation of animal life, and will not be surprised to learn that these little sand caves, with their equable climate, permanent and abundant moisture, perpetually and hospitably open to the outer air, afford an asylum and a domicile to a most interesting assemblage of animals. The list of these, when it shall have been completed, bids fair to become a long one.

Not only the Florida burrowing owl, the rattlesnake, the rabbit, the raccoon and the opossum find in them a temporary shelter, but another vertebrate also, a frog, here takes up its permanent abode and lives on terms of perfect friendship with the gopher. This frog is the sub-species Rana areolata æsopus, a beautiful form, with soft subterranean coloration and crepuscular, toad-like habits.'

It is not at all rare, nearly every gopher hole harbors one or several specimens. They may be seen at evening sitting just outside the entrance of the burrow, and frequently in the morning or on cloudy days their softly radiant eyes may be detected gleaming out of the shadows a few feet back from the entrance. It is not easy to capture them, except with a baited hook and line, for at the slightest alarm they leap quickly down the yawning throat of the gallery and disappear from view. Specimens of this frog have been seen which would weigh more than a pound, and individuals of colossal proportions are reported to exist.

In January and during July of the present year more than a dozen species of articulates have been discovered living in the gopher holes. The majority are undescribed and new to science.

1 Mr. Fred'k C. Test, of the National Museum, who kindly determined the species, writes: "Only one specimen, the type, is in the museum collection or presumably in any other." The type specimen came from Micanopy, Fla., probably without notes of habits, etc.

Two only are parasitic upon the gopher: (1) a large tick, which fastens itself upon the skin of the animal or to the sutures of the shell; (2) a gigantic acarus, a quarter of an inch in length, which does not remain upon the body of the gopher but attacks it within the nest, which, like the bed-bug, it never quits. Some of the burrows are infested with these blood-sucking mites and others appear to be entirely free from them.

The dung of the gopher furnishes food to five beetles and one interesting caterpillar of a moth. All of these are new and peculiar forms, presenting characters that indicate subterranean habits of life. A large wingless cave cricket, apparently a Phalangopsis, swarms in all the burrows.

Three predatory beetles, one of which, a new species of Anthicus, may prove to be a prowler from without, have been found within the galleries.

A very large specimen of the whip-tail scorpion (Telephonus) was found in one of the burrows. It was living in a short gallery of its own, which opened into the nest of the gopher at the lowest level. A minute Pseudo-scorpion is also found at the lower end of some of the burrows.

A flea of undetermined species, of which a single specimen was found in one of the holes, may prove to be an intruder, left bebind possibly by some mammalian visitor.

The following is a review of the animal parasites and messmates of the gopher:

Vertebrate.

1. The gopher frog, Rana areolata œsopus.

1. Copris, new sp.

Articulates.

Feeding upon dung of gopher. 2. Onthophagus, sp. Feeding upon dung of gopher. 3. Saprinus, new sp. Feeding upon dung of gopher. 4. Saprinus, sp. Feeding upon dung of gopher. 5. Aphodius, new sp. Feeding upon dung of gopher. 6. Staphylinide, probably a Philonthus. Predatory. 7. Trichopteryx, sp. A species found also outside.

8. Anthicus, new sp. One specimen only.

9. Pyralid moth. Caterpillars feeding upon dung. 10. Cave cricket (undetermined).

11. Acaride parasite of the gopher (undetermined).

12. Gopher tick (undetermined).

13. Pseudo-scorpion (undetermined).

14. Whip-tail scorpion. Predatory intruder.

15. Flea, probably a mammalian parasite.

Most of the insects have been submitted to Mr. E. A. Schwarz, of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., and to him I am indebted for the determinations given above.

NEW METHODS OF TREATING THE SICK.

BY WILLIAM C. KRAUSS, M.D., BUFFALO, NY.

ON June 1, 1889, Professor Brown-Séquard presented a communication to the Société de Biologie of Paris on a new method of therapeutics. It seems that Brown-Séquard had been at work on this project for many years, for, in 1869, he expressed a belief that if it were possible to inject spermatic fluid into the veins of old men they would experience a rejuvenation, sexually, mentally, and physically. After repeated experiments upon rabbits, dogs, and guinea-pigs, he, in a true scientific spirit, injected some of the testicular fluid into his system, and his experiences and results form the most interesting part of his memorable communication to this learned society. "The author of this communication, now 72 years old, has for the past twelve years watched his physical powers slowly and continually decline. The laboratory work has become laborious and heavy, and after each meal I have been obliged to take a short nap. After the third injection a complete change took place. The work in the laboratory has become agreeable, not the least fatiguing, and after three and a half hours of such work I have been able to edit a memoir. The dynamometer showed an increase of 6.7 kilogrammes, the bowels regained their former activity, and, in short, I have regained all that I have lost."

These results, coming from one of the ablest physiologists in France, yea, of the world, were in an incredibly short space of time dispatched to all corners of the earth, and Brown-Séquard's "Elixir of Life," erroneously called, was being tested by hundreds of doctors and would-be scientists.

Enthusiastic reports are not easy to corroborate, and the Elixir of Life was doomed to bitter disappointment. At first encouraging results were reported by a class of observers least fitted to test the virtues of the new discovery, but in a short time the whole proceedings were looked upon with disdain and distrust.

Not so in France, Brown-Séquard published several later reports with equally good results, and the experiments were further conducted by some of his co-workers and students. The hypodermic injections of testicular juice gave encouraging results in anæmia, organic diseases of the brain and spinal cord, cachexia, tuberculosis, and in many of the chronic diseases. It was also found that ovarian juice gave nearly the same results as did the testicular juice. Thyroid juice. It has been definitely proven that removal of the thyroid glands from a dog will be followed by death. Gley, in his experiments, decided to inject the juice of thyroid glands in dogs thus deprived of these glands, and, instead of dying, they recovered without any serious difficulties. In the human family it has been found that after removal of the thyroid gland or the destruction of this gland through disease, that a certain train of symptoms will develop, which had received the name of myxodema, a disease characterized by swelling of the face, body, and extremities, loss of hair, sub-normal temperature, etc. Horsley attempted to transplant the thyroid gland of animals to these patients, and met with partial success. Dr. Muriay of Newcastle, England, then injected bypodermically a glycerine extract of thyroid gland into patients suffering with myxoedema, and his efforts were rewarded with beneficial results. Brown-Séquard and D'Arsonval were conducting similar experiments about the same time with equally good success. It was found, however, that the injection of this substance was followed in many cases with pain, inflammation, and abscess formation. To overcome these hindrances, Fox of Plymouth and Mackenzie advised and practised the treatment of my xoedema by feeding with sheeps' thyroid glands, and the results seemed to be in every way satisfactory.

The writer has had a little experience in treating two cases of myxoedema, but he has been unable to attain anything like the results claimed by the English and French writers. In fact his experience has been negative, not even obtaining temporary improvement.

MacAlister of England has treated cases of pseudo-hypertrophic paralysis with injections of thymus gland extract; also a case of lymphadeuoma with a mixture of red and yellow marrow, with seemingly good results.

Dieulafory of Paris has injected extracts of the cortical portion of the kidney into patients suffering with Bright's disease. He proposes the name Nephrine for this particular fluid Comby and Dieulafory have also injected the extract of pancreas in cases of diabetes, with temporary good results.

Spermine is the name of another fluid extract derived from Brown-Séquard's testicular juice, its action seems to be similar to the testicular juice, acting upon the motor areas of the cerebrospinal axis, increasing the strength of the arms and legs, regulating the sexual, urinary, and digestive functions, and in improvement of the general sensibility.

American experimenters have not been idle during the rise of this fin de siècle therapeutics. There are now houses in New York manufacturing animal extracts known as cerebrine, medulline, testiculine, musculine, and other newly-coined-word remedies which have been recommended in the various diseases of the human body. Personally, the writer has had experience with cerebrine only, and, if he has noticed any results, they have been but temporary. Perhaps they do not even deserve the name "result," only a reaction had set in. Those of the writer's friends who have had experience with these remedies have also obtained negative results. The injection of water and glycerine has succeeded in accomplishing exactly what the animal extracts have done.

What the outcome of this innovation will be, or where it will end, is at present impossible to say. The field is so broad and the inclination to experiment so great that, in all probability, some little time will elapse before the returns will all be in. Whether these extracts exert any specific action, or whether the results thus obtained have been through 66 suggestion" and auto-suggestion, is likewise hard to explain, the writer is inclined to the latter view, that "suggestion" has been the specific" agent.

NOTES ON ARSENIC.

BY JAS. LEWIS HOWE, POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY, LOUISVILLE, KY. NOTWITHSTANDING the well recognized danger of arsenical greens as coloring materials, their use is still far too common, especially in green enameled papers for covering boxes and for more reprehensible purposes. I cite two cases in point.

1. Some time since my attention was called to some so-called "Kiss Candies" for sale in a little variety shop, largely patronized by the children of a neighboring public school. These candies were squares of caramel, etc., each wrapped up with a verse of poetry (?) in a piece of colored paper, together with other candies not wrapped. Some of these papers were colored with anilin dyes, but a very considerable number were green enameled papers. An examination of several of these latter revealed the following:

Paper I. Bright-green surface, 50 square centimetres, arsenic found (estimated as arsenious oxid), 0.0285 of a gram.

Paper II. Light-green surface, 50 square centimetres, arsenic found, 0.0062 of a gram.

Paper III. Dark-green surface, 50 square centimetres, arsenic found, 0 0093 of a gram

Paper IV. Bluish-green surface, 47 square centimetres, arsenic found, 0.0209 of a gram.

In the latter cases the enameled surfaces appeared much abraded, doubtless by contact with the other candies.

It is needless to say that here was not only a grave danger of the surfaces of the candies containing considerable arsenic, but the well-known habit of young children of putting everything bright colored in the mouth, might have easily resulted in taking a toxic dose.

2. Very recently there has appeared in the market a natural leaf twist chewing tobacco, wrapped around with a strip of green enameled paper three-fourths of an inch wide and about six inches long, fastened to the tobacco by a tack. The surface of this paper is an arsenic green. An examination was made of the twist by cutting off the exterior and using Reinsche's test. Distinct traces of arsenic were found. The quantity from a single twist was far too small to be dangerous, but it is needless to say that the practice of using arsenic paper under such circumstances should be condemned, and the manufacturers of the twist were cautioned on the point. The arsenic found in the tobacco doubtless came, by abrasion, from the paper wrapped around it, but there is another possibility. It is more or less widely known that Parisgreen is used by tobacco-growers against the tobacco worm. While in general, when properly used, probably no danger is to be apprehended, it has occurred in my knowledge that tobacco has been sprayed very shortly before gathering. This would seem to be dangerous, and investigations upon this point are being now carried out.

As regards the detection of arsenic in medico-legal cases, atten tion has been called by Dr. Bernard Dyer in the Proceedings of the Chemical Society1 to the fact that in certain cases, at least, a large proportion of the arsenic is precipitated upon the zinc in Marsh's test. The following is an observation in point. Arsenic was recovered in a certain case by Reinsche's test on six pieces of copper foil, each 20 square centimetres surface. Three of the pieces were divided, and from each the arsenic was sublimed in well-defined crystals, which could be identified without difficulty. From the other three pieces all the arsenic was sublimed, dissolved, and submitted to Marsh's test. Only the very slightest trace of a mirror was found, not enough to identify it as arsenic in a doubtful case. In this case, as in that of Dr. Dyer, cast zinc was used. 1 Proc. Chem. Soc., 1893, p. 120.

Another recent case illustrates the necessity of the physicians who perform the autopsy preserving other organs than the stomach. G. had given her husband coffee from a pot in which she had emptied probably a whole box of Rough on Rats. He drank two cups, containing probably in the neighborhood of 7 grams. The coffee left, which I afterwards examined, was practically a saturated solution of arsenious oxid. Death ensued in four hours. The stomach was brought me, and was found to be empty, and much inflamed. Using the whole stomach, but a very small quantity of arsenic was found, evidently only what the walls of the stomach as a tissue could absorb, and far from enough to have produced death. The corroborative testimony was, however, sufficient to secure the woman's conviction.

Brodie's statement that when arsenic is taken in solution no trace of it will be found in the stomach is too broad, but it is imperative that in such cases other organs, notably the liver (as well as spleen and kidneys), should be preserved for analysis.

In my own experience, Reinsche's test, when carefully carried out, is far more satisfactory and no less certain in testing for the presence of arsenic than Marsh's. It can be readily learned by medical students and used practically by the physician, which is not true of Marsh's test. In order to secure well-defined arsenic crystals in Reinsche's test with a minimum of arsenic, I have found it desirable to use electrolytic foil, to roll the strip very closely, and to sublime in a tube of the smallest possible diameter.

A NEW IDEA IN MICROSCOPE CONSTRUCTION.

BY C. W. WOODWORTH, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, CAL. EVERYONE who has worked with the microscope, especially in studying rather large objects with medium and low powers, has felt the need of a better means of orientation than those at present available.

Stage forceps admit of complete rotation in one direction and some degree of motion at right-angles to this by raising or lowering the object and readjusting the focus. Ordinarily, any change in the direction of the object requires this readjustment of the focus, and generally the part to be studied is out of the field and must be found as well.

The ideal condition would be to rotate the object at the exact focal point of the microscope, and one can readily see that this could be attained if the object was supported by an apparatus revolving upon two axes at right-angles to each other, which intersect at the focal point, provided neither of these remains fixidly coincident with the optical axis.

There are many ways by which this condition might be attained, but perhaps as simple a modification of an existing stand as could be made with this object in view is a stand I have recently had the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company make for the Entomological Department of the University of California.

The instrument is a "Model" stand with an ordinary revolving mechanical stage. This is supported on a rotating bar, resembling the usual sub stage bar, and provided with a rack and pinion adjustment.

The stage is centred in the usual way, which brings the axis of revolution coincident with the optical axis. The stage bar swings upon a core which is adjustable laterally, so it becomes possible to make the axis of its rotation intersect the optical axis.

These adjustments being made, the instrument fulfils the conditions specified above whenever the focal point is brought to the axis of rotation of the stage bar. Consequently, in using the instrument the tube is brought to a certain position and the focusing of the object accomplished by means of the rack and pinion of the stage bar. The correct position of the tube is determined by trial for each objective, and marks made on the tube to indicate this position.

Different objectives, as those who have used revolving stages must have noticed, have somewhat different optical axes, and there is enough variation with the medium powers to make a centreing nose-piece essential.

While it is mechanically impossible to make all these adjustments perfectly correct, still I find that even with medium powers the object remains in the field during orientation, and that the