Apparatus 11 



When the Gillette blade begins to lose a little of its effectiveness 

 for microtome work it will make two or three scalpels. With a pair 

 of stout shears, cut the blade into pieces, as indicated in Fig. 6. 

 Take a small steel nail and flatten the head and upper part by laying 

 it upon a piece of iron and hitting it with a hammer, or by squeezing 

 it in a vise; then solder the blade to the nail, and use the scalpel in an 

 ordinary needle holder, or drive the nail into any wooden holder. A 

 dozen of these scalpels can be made in ten minutes. 



The stout razors our grandfathers used to shave with are excellent 

 for freehand sectioning and even for cutting sections on the micro- 

 tome. The blade should be flat on one 

 side (Fig. 7, A), Modern razors (Fig. 7, B) 

 with delicate blades ground hollow on both 

 sides, are worthless for cutting sections of 

 plants. 



There should be two good hones : a fine 



f ^ FIG. 7. The type shown 



carborundum hone for ;ne preliminary in A is good for microtome 

 sharpening, and a yellow Belgian hone for work '- that shown in B is 



worthless for microtome work, 

 finishing. About 10X2J inches is a good but can be used for freehand 



size. If the second hone be quite hard Actions of leaves. 

 and the finishing skilfully done, little or no stropping may be 

 necessary. The best strops used by barbers are satisfactory for 

 microtome knives. 



There are numerous forms of the paraffin bath. Those with a 

 water-jacket, a thermometer, and a thermostat to maintain an even 

 temperature are the most convenient. 



Where electricity is available, the electric thermostat devised by 

 Dr. Land is immensely superior. It is clean and easily regulated and 

 maintains a more even temperature than has yet been secured by 

 means of gas regulators. The appearance and principal features 

 are shown in Figs. 8 and 9. A detailed description of this thermostat 

 is given in the Botanical Gazette for November, 1911. One familiar 

 with tools and electricity could make this thermostat at an outlay 

 of about $3.75. Mr. A. W. Strickler, 5654 Kenwood Avenue, 

 Chicago, makes the apparatus complete and ready to attach to the 

 bath for $15. 



