602 Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



Journal of ^ correspondent recently said : 



" Why not publish some elementary 

 Applied Microscopy. papers that the beginner can under- 

 stand and which will not require a 



L- B. ELLIOTT, EDITOR. college laboratory equipment to follow 



Issued Monthly from the Publication Department O^t . 



of the Bau^sch^& ^Lom^b Optical Co., Expressions similar to this have 



== reached us at intervals during the year. 



One Dollar per Yeaf ^l^^oldg^iountries, $1.25 Careful investigation as to the causcs 

 per Year, in Advance. which give rise to them has led to the 



The majority of our subscribers dislike to have their following Statement f Or the guidance 



files broken in case they fail to remit at the expiration , . . , ^ . 



of their paid subscription. We therefore assume that no Of bCgmnCrS in the USC Ot the miCrO- 



interruption in the series is desired, unless notice to i i i i t r 



discontinue is sent. SCOpC, whO lOOK tO the JOURNAL for 



assistance in their work. 



It is our purpose to publish a certain amount of material for the beginner, 

 and we have done so from the initial number. The series of papers by Dr. 

 Huber, Dr. Novy, Professor Schaffner, Professor Chamberlain, and single 

 papers by many others are of this character. 



These articles differ from much that has heretofore been published, osten- 

 sibly for the beginner, in that they deal only with methods and apparatus ; what 

 to do, how to do it, and what to do it with, omitting entirely the sentimental or 

 ideal side of the subject, which we believe has no place in a publication such as 

 this. 



Careful inquiry has elicited the fact that some have been deterred from 

 even giving the papers referred to a careful reading because they are written by 

 college men and deal with processes which have been developed in their 

 laboratories. 



While this is true, the ingenuity of the average man will enable him to 

 duplicate with simple devices of his own manufacture all, or very nearly all, that 

 is required to follow out the directions given, satisfactorily, and to prepare the 

 reagents and material actually needed. 



The beginner is often not satisfied to de^/n far enough back. It is mani- 

 festly useless to seek a method for demonstrating chromatophores unless one 

 knows the meaning of chromatophore, and yet many beginners are wont to 

 commence in the middle of the book, neglecting the preparatory chapters which 

 would make the succeeding ones plain. The Journal has elementary chapters 

 in methods, but does not reach out into the rudiments of general biology. 



Our idea of the right kind of a paper on methods for the beginner is one 

 that begins at the beginning and explains each step in the order in which it 

 would naturally occur in the course of work, leaving nothing ambiguous and 

 presupposing no previous knowledge of the subject in question. 



Papers redundant with generalities are easily prepared and of little value, 

 although to the beginner often more interesting to read. Such papers have 

 their function, but are not reliable guides for work. 



