vi Preface 



one would not wish to see in the "Handbook of Basic Microtechnique.' 

 The author is deeply sympathetic to the idea that celloidin embedding, 

 or the silver impregnation of nervous tissues, should be part of an ele- 

 mentary course in microtechnique. But he shares these views with a small 

 minority of teachers to whom he would suggest that reference copies of 

 the larger work be made available to their classes. He would also make 

 the same suggestion to those who have requested that lists of supple- 

 mentary reading material be appended to the various parts of this little 

 book. Not only is the big book copiously furnished with references but 

 it contains a list of the 300 journals and 120 texts used in its compilation. 

 In addition to this the author, in collaboration with his wife, has sepa- 

 rately published a comprehensive, classified, and annotated bibliography 

 ("Annotated Bibliography of Works in Latin Alphabet Languages on 

 Biological Microtechnique" by Freda Gray and Peter Gray. William C. 

 Brown Co., Dubuque, Iowa, 1956), which contains also a history of the 

 field. 



The third part of this edition, "Specific Examples of Slide Making," 

 has been very greatly improved by the addition of photographic illustra- 

 tions. The author has, however, gone beyond the suggestion of many 

 teachers that pictures of good slides be included. He has been at pains to 

 select examples of very bad slides and to publish photographs of these 

 with an explanation of how they differ from the good ones. This section 

 also contains three new specific examples, only one of which has been 

 transferred, in response to numerous requests by teachers of premedical 

 students and medical technicians, from the big book. 



Although the author's main debt is due to the correspondents who have 

 suggested the changes described, he has other acknowledgments to make. 

 His colleagues in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University 

 of Pittsburgh have offered many suggestions in the specific fields in which 

 they are expert. In particular, Drs. Ralph Buchsbaum, Eliot Spiess, and 

 Ian Sussex, though they cannot be held responsible for any remaining 

 defects, have provided wise counsel in the revision of invertebrate, 

 genetic, and botanical methods. Finally, the author's special thanks are 

 due to his secretary, Mrs. Leah Porter, for her unfailing and continuous 

 help. 



Acknowledgment is made with thanks to the Fisher Scientific Company 

 for Figs. 71 through 79, 92, 130, and 131, and to the American Optical 

 Company for Figs. 104, 105, and 127. 



Peter Gray 



