328 



Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



accommodates two students. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 8 each accommodate one 

 student. Fig. 7 is 8 feet inches long, accommodates five students, or with 

 crowding, seven. 



As to tops. Prof. J. D. Snyder 

 of Leland Stanford suggests that 

 tops be rhade double, the grain 

 of the boards running in oppos- 

 ite directions. The tables at the 

 University of Iowa are slate-top- 

 ped. Professor Macbride says, 

 " This makes them heavy and 

 perfectly stable for microscopic 

 work, and contributes greatly to 

 cleanly habits on the part of 

 students — reagents produce no 

 stains whatever. Even if marred 

 they may be easily repolished 

 with a piece of fine sandstone 

 and water." 



Tops of tables in Fig. 7 are made of hard wood about two inches thick, planed 

 and sand-papered; but not varnished. There are no cracks in the top, and what- 

 ever is spilled on the table can be easily washed off, or if it remains long enough 

 to stain, the upper surface can be sand-papered and remain as good as before. 



Tables in Fig. 8 have the tops of oak, li- inches thick, stained black with 

 logwood and copper sulphate, and coated with paraffin driven into the wood by a 

 hot iron, according to the plan suggested by Prof. Charles Wright Dodge. 



As to light. A north light is said by most authors to be preferable to any 

 other. This is certainly not so in the Mississippi valley. A residence of ten 

 years in Illinois, with a south light for work, enables the writer to speak on that 



Fig. 4. f>. Top of table at University of Illinois, 

 arranged to prevent warping. 



f 



L(. 



Fig. 5. 



Side view of table at University 

 of Illinois. 



Fig. 6. Side view of table at 

 University of Illinois. 



subject. During the spring months the sun will not shine for weeks at a time, 

 and the best light one can get is none too strong. It is better to have too much 

 light a small portion of the time than to have too little a larger portion. My 

 rooms have always had a south and west face, and it has seldom been an incon- 

 venience because of too much light, and many times has permitted work when 

 the opposite facing would have made work impossible. 



