1380 Journal of Applied Microscopy 



Journal of Among the many questions clamoring 



for decision, that of the standard 



AppllCCl iVllCrOSCOpy of equipment in the various classes of 



""■^ laboratories has received very little 



Laboratory Methods. organized consideration, and yet it is 



Edited by L. B. ELLIOTT. °"^ °^ ^' ^'"^^ practical value as any 



■ connected with science teaching, and 



Issued Monthly from the Publication Department one which WOuld seem tO admit of a 



of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., 



Rochester, N. Y. very easy and practical settlement. It 



■SUBSCRIPTIONS: is not our purpose here to make any 



One Dollar per Year. To Foreign Countries, $1.25 suggestions as tO what might COnsti- 

 per Year, in Advance. °° ° 



tute a standard equipment, but to point 



The majority of our subscribers dislike to have their .,i i . j ,• i- .•..• 



files broken in case they fail to remit at the expiration OUt the ValUC tO CducatlOUal inStltUtlOUS 



of their paid subscription. We therefore assume that no r j i- + A A 



iiiterruption in the series is desired, unless notice to 01 adopting 3. Standara. 



discontinue is sent. rr-n • , r i i r 



1 he requirements for each class of 



laboratory, so far as the most important 

 apparatus goes, are practically the same. The biological laboratory requires a 

 microscope having powers ranging from a minimum to a maximum. The histo- 

 logical, bacteriological, chemical, high school, and each other class is likewise 

 limited. There is, however, no unity of opinion as to the kind of stand these 

 powers of lenses are to be used on, or the accessories, such as nosepiece, con- 

 densers, etc., which are to be used with them. The same is true in a general 

 way in regard to microtomes, incubators, and the unit equipment, for each 

 student, of glassware, stains, and reagents. Each laboratory director is a law 

 unto himself, and an inspection of the purchases made for the various labora- 

 tories of the country for the year would seem to indicate that each had done his 

 best to be original in the make-up of his equipment. 



This is all well enough from the standpoint of the individual who is equip- 

 ping the laboratory, but the practice costs the institutions of the country an 

 immense sum of money, far greater than any one not fully conversant with the 

 conditions can realize, and the cause is obvious. 



The cost of any article is dependent very largely on the number consumed. 

 Where the number is small the cost of production is high, because it does not 

 pay the manufacturer to build expensive machinery and make up a large quantity 

 to be held a long period, and in addition run the chance of his stock becoming 

 antiquated through the development of more suitable models. 



So with this laboratory apparatus ; the ceaseless demand for variations from 

 existing models, the selection of every grade of apparatus for the same kind of 

 work, makes it necessary for the maker to build an endless variety of perfectly 

 useless instruments, and to charge an average advance on all to compensate him 

 for the extra cost to him of doing his work piecemeal. 



If the subject of laboratory equipment could be taken up by a committee 

 from each of the organizations of laboratory men interested in this work, and a 

 joint recommendation made, there is no question but that the majority of labora- 

 tories would accept the findings, and that the uniform demand thus established 

 would result not only in better apparatus, but at a decreased cost. 



