The spore being thus liberated, sinks to the bottom. Its brilliant hue has faded and changed to a reddish brown, but after a rest of about three months (according to Pringsheim, who seems to be the only one who has ever followed the process of oospore formation entirely through), the spore suddenly assumes its original vivid hue and germinates into a young _Vaucheria_. CHARM OF MICROSCOPICAL STUDY. This concludes the account of my very imperfect attempt to trace the life history of a lowly plant. Its study has been to me a source of ever increasing pleasure, and has again demonstrated how our favorite instrument reveals phenomena of most absorbing interest in directions where the unaided eye finds but little promise. In walking along the banks of the little stream, where, half concealed by more pretentious plants, our humble _Vaucheria_ grows, the average passer by, if he notices it at all, sees but a tangled tuft of dark green "scum." Yet, when this is examined under the magic tube, a crystal cylinder, closely set with sparkling emeralds, is revealed. And although so transparent, so apparently simple in structure that it does not seem possible for even the finest details to escape our search, yet almost as we watch it mystic changes appear. We see the bright green granules, impelled by an unseen force, separate and rearrange themselves in new formations. Strange outgrowths from the parent filament appear. The strange power we call "life," doubly mysterious when manifested in an organism so simple as this, so open to our search, seems to challenge us to discover its secret, and, armed with our glittering lenses and our flashing stands of exquisite workmanship, we search intently, but in vain. And yet _not_ in vain, for we are more than recompensed by the wondrous revelations beheld and the unalloyed pleasures enjoyed, through the study of even the unpretentious _Vaucheria_. The amplification of the objects in the engravings is about 80 diameters. * * * * * JAPANESE CAMPHOR--ITS PREPARATION, EXPERIMENTS, AND ANALYSIS OF THE CAMPHOR OIL. [Footnote: From the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry.] By H. OISHI. (Communicated by Kakamatsa.) LAURUS CAMPHORA, or "kusunoki," as it is called in Japan, grows mainly in those provinces in the islands Shikobu and Kinshin, which have the southern sea coast. It also grows abundantly in the province of Kishu. The amount of camphor varies according to the age of the tree. That of a hundred years old is tolerably rich in camphor. In order to extract the camphor, such a tree is selected; the trunk and large stems are cut into small pieces, and subjected to distillation with steam.