Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



327 



Fig. 'S. Side and end view of table at University of Iowa. 



tainly as much reason for planning a table suited for the average work in biology 

 as for work in chemistry. However, as the work in biology is so different in 

 different institutions, while 

 that in chemistry is in the 

 main quite uniform, it is 

 not surprising that opin- 

 ions in regard to tables 

 should be so varied. 



First, in regard to 

 height. The height of 

 tables at Leland Stanford, 

 Fig. 1, is '29i^ inches; at 

 the University of Roches- 

 ter, Fig. 2, 'iUi inches ; at 

 University of Iowa, Fig. o, 

 42 inches; at University of Illinois, Figs. 4, 5, 6, 30 inches; at Univer- 

 sity of Montana, Fig. 8, as planned by the writer, 28 inches; at Cornell 

 University, as shown in the Journal of Applied Microscopy for February, 

 1898, 28i inches. All the tables mentioned certainly consider that the student 

 should sit rather than stand. Indeed, for the most work in different lines of 

 biology the student should certainly sit. From a physiological standpoint it is 



r <^~ better to sit on an ordinary chair, with 



the feet resting comfortably on the 

 floor. Sitting thus, a table top 28 or 

 29 inches high gives greatest comfort 

 for work with vertical microscope. A 

 table of this height is not comfortable 

 or convenient with a drawer below the 

 top and above the knees. Nor is a 

 higher table, with which a revolving 

 stool is used, convenient for work 

 with a drawer between the knees and 

 top of the table. The discomfort in the higher tables is no doubt much 

 relieved by the foot-rest supplied. But if the idea is to diminish the height 

 of the table relative to the student's feet by supplying a foot-rest, it would 

 seem as reasonable to reduce the entire height, and make the foot-rest the floor. 

 Place the average student, a beginner in his first year's work, perhaps, on a high 

 stool, with or without a back, above the floor, with a foot-rest or without it, a 

 drawer above the knees, making the sitting position an unnatural one, with a 

 microscope high enough to require a considerable stretch of the back and neck 

 to do work, and two hours will weary any of them but a veteran. 



As to length. In Fig. 1 the length is 7 feet, with two drawers on each side. 

 At the best such a table will accommodate four people. With advanced work, 

 and any considerable amount of apparatus, such a table will accommodate two 

 persons, without an increase in width over 3^ feet. Fig. 2 is 8 feet G inches 

 long, which will accommodate, with convenience, three on a side. Fig. 3 



Fig. 4. a. Side view, table at University 

 of Illinois. 



