THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 5 



be directions for the selection of a microscope has been printed 

 it is still a fact that the very people to whom the microscope 

 would be a useful tool are in total ignorance of the first es- 

 sentials of a working outfit. For example, the uninitiated 

 jump to the conclusion from a hasty look through a maker's 

 catalogue that nothing but an extremely costly outfit is worth 

 having at all. As a sample of the usual hand-book advice in 

 a generally excellent little manual for beginners, ("Practical 

 Hints in Microscopy," Clark, D. C. Heath and Co)., the 

 author says : "Very cheap microscopes are useless for practi- 

 cal purposes." If reference is intended to the little toys with 

 tiny French doublet objectives and stage room conspicuous 

 by its absence the statement is correct. There are several 

 low-priced instruments of American make, however, in which 

 the really important features — lenses, stage-capacity, lighting 

 and focussing facilities — are all up to the requirements of an 

 earnest practical worker and the cost of which does not pene- 

 trate far into the second column of figures. 



The first financial bump that the would-be microscopist 

 runs into is the objective. This is the lens that does the real 

 business at the bottom end of the tube. This toe-scratched 

 boulder may be softened by the comforting assurance that 

 95 per cent of all botanical work may be well done with a 

 good low-power objective (2-3, 3-4 or 1 inch) costing about 

 $5. A 1-inch eye-piece costing $1.50 completes the optical 

 necessities. A pair of eye-pieces one of slightly higher power 

 and one considerably lower might be advisable. The shorter 

 focal length gives the greater amplification but also tires the 

 eyes quicker. Don't worry over magnifying power. This 

 question is soon forgotten in actual work. Clear, crisp defini- 

 tion is of far greater importance than excessive amplification. 

 The writer believes that even the tyro with a bank account had 

 better do much preliminary work with low power lenses before 

 experimenting with immersion objectives, etc. Wait until 



