Collection of Marine Material.—Shell scrapings, the stomachs of fish, marine algæ, especially the brown and red algæ, the hulls of vessels, mud from anchors and dredgings, are all sources which may prove valuable. In the sand ripples, after the tide recedes, a yellowish-brown deposit will be noticed. This should be taken up carefully with a spoon and placed in a bottle; the sand will settle at once and a very pure gathering will be held in suspension in the water. Such collections may be made along the entire coast of New Jersey on sunny days in summer. In salt meadows near Absecon and Hackensack, large quantities of diatoms, including Pleurosigma, may be obtained in the yellow scum floating on the surface.
The Blue Clay Deposit.—The blue clay occurs as a pre- or post-glacial deposit in the bed of the ancient Delaware River, and, at depths varying usually from fifteen to forty feet below the surface, has been obtained from artesian wells at Pavonia, Pensauken and Gloucester, N. J., also at Port Penn on the Delaware, and especially from the dredgings made by the removal of Smith's Island opposite the city. In the city proper, it may be stated briefly that material may be found in a stratum of very light blue clay at a depth varying from twenty to sixty feet in many places south of Arch St. east of Broad St., and also along the beds of ancient rivulets near Tioga St., at Sixteenth St., and in certain other places which were probably subject to tidal overflow. One of the best collections was made along the bank of the Schuylkill at the east end of Walnut St. Bridge, at a depth of thirteen feet below the surface. Excavations for the Reading Terminal and the Subway and several buildings, as the Bingham House, have furnished numerous specimens.
Cleaning the Material.—Some gatherings may be so pure as to be ready for mounting when treated with dilute alcohol and oil of cloves. If, when gathered, the diatoms are immersed in a saturated solution of picric acid for several days, they may be stained with carmine or methylene blue, or whatever may be required to emphasize the contents of the frustules, including the endochrome and the pyrenoids. After staining, pass as rapidly as expedient through the treatment with dilute alcohol and oil of cloves, and mount in benzol balsam, avoiding heat. A hot solution of mercuric bichloride is sometimes used for the preservation of the endochrome, although washing is needed before mounting. For the particular stain considered best for certain details of structure, it will be advisable to consult works on Micro-Chemistry or Heinzerling (l. c.). The stains of most importance are carmine, methylene blue, hæmatoxylin, gold chloride and Bismarck brown.
Whatever method may be used in staining, the identification of forms is impossible, in most cases, unless the valves are carefully cleaned and the cell-contents destroyed. For this purpose provide a casserole holding from five to eight ounces, an iron tripod stand with alcohol lamp, several six-inch test-tubes, preferably those with a standard base, fitted with pure rubber corks. Take the material as free from twigs, dead leaves, sand, and other matter as possible, place it in the casserole, and add about the same quantity of nitric acid. Boil for twenty minutes and then add about half a teaspoonful of powdered bichromate of potash, stirring with a glass rod. Then take a beaker-glass partly filled with water and pour into it slowly the liquid which has been allowed to cool a short time, whirling the casserole to cause the concentration of sand in the centre. Allow the material to settle for half an hour or longer, according to the amount of diatoms and their size. Pour off the water, add more water, and place in a test-tube. Repeat the decantation, shaking the test-tube, closed with a rubber cork, vigorously each time. From time to time whirl the diatoms in the casserole and throw away the sand collected in the centre. By repeating the decantation, shaking and whirling, the deposit will be found to consist almost entirely of diatoms. It may be necessary to repeat the boiling in the acid and bichromate. If, however, any detritus other than sand is noted, boil in sulphuric acid and add from time to time minute pinches of powdered chlorate of potash, being careful to protect the eyes by holding a piece of glass before them; otherwise the explosions which occur are likely to throw some of the boiling acid into the eyes and destroy the sight. The material, when clean, should be white or, in the case of Synedra, yellowish. It is quite easy to construct a box fitted with the proper apparatus for boiling and provided with a glass door for observation, and a method of introducing the chlorate of potash through a small aperture or tube. The box may be placed in the garden or fastened outside of a window so that the poisonous fumes may be carried off.
An excellent method, in the case of larger forms, is to boil the material already cleaned by the acid in water to which a few shavings of coarse brown soap are added. The difference in density will hold in suspension any flocculent matter, and while many of the smaller forms will not settle, the others will be perfectly cleaned. When satisfied with the cleaning, preserve the stock material in part alcohol and, in using, pour into a smaller bottle the amount required, replace the dilute alcohol with distilled water, and mount as directed. It often happens that gatherings are made consisting almost entirely of sand. Attempts at cleaning in the usual way will cause the loss of nearly all of the diatoms. In this case, after the material has been treated with acid until nothing remains but sand and a few diatoms, the mechanical finger must be used.
In the cleaning of marine deposits, various methods may be required. In the case of partly siliceous species, washing in pure water repeatedly is all that can be done. The larger and heavier diatoms may be separated from the sand by elutriation or by whirling in a casserole, by rocking in a shallow dish the shape of a watch crystal, or by pouring slowly over a strip of plate-glass at least two feet in length inclined at an angle of thirty degrees. The sand will cling to the glass, while the greater portion of the diatoms will run off. Where particles of shells or foraminifera are present, a preliminary boiling in hydrochloric acid is advisable. In all marine gatherings, the salt should first be washed out before proceeding with the cleaning.
For hardened masses of clay and for fossil deposits, it is necessary to boil in carbonate of soda and follow with the acid treatment. Citric acid and acetate of potash used alternately in boiling may be tried. Soaking for a time in acetate of potash and allowing the material to deliquesce for a week before further process, has proved successful in some instances. The repetition of several methods and the gentle breaking of the harder masses with the point of a needle will disintegrate almost any diatomaceous earth, but, as a last resort for refractory deposits, boil in pure water, add a piece of caustic potash about the size of a pea, continue the boiling not more than thirty seconds longer, and pour instantly into dilute hydrochloric acid; otherwise the diatoms will be destroyed. Afterwards proceed with the usual treatment.
Slides and Covers.—Take half an ounce of No. 1 covers, circles, and place them in a wide-mouthed bottle. Add a portion of the following mixture (Dr. Carl Seiler's formula):
| Bichromate of potash | 2 oz. |
| Sulphuric acid | 3 fl. oz. |
| Water | 25 fl. oz. |
Shake the bottle in order that the surfaces of the covers may be fully exposed to the action of the acid, and set aside for several hours. Decant the solution, add water repeatedly until all traces of the mixture are removed, and keep the circles in the bottle in fifty-per cent. alcohol. When needed, take out a circle with forceps and dry on a linen cloth.