2^44 Journal of Applied Microscopy 



to room, school principals should be led to see the enormous advantage, both to 

 pupil and teacher, of the single laboratory. The room used for this subject need 

 not be equipped with special furniture, for ordinary desks will answer almost as 

 well for most of the work in physiology. One essential condition, however, is 

 an adequate supply of fresh material, which can be furnished by any local 

 butcher who has access to a slaughter house. These supplies are, of course, to 

 be paid for out of public funds, just as truly as are text-books and chemicals. 

 After the laboratory has once been equipped with permanent apparatus, the total 

 expense of the course ought not to aggregate more than 8 to 10 cents per pupil. 

 Suppose our topic of study is muscle, and we are aiming to lead the pupils 

 to get at first hand clear ideas of its structure. Pieces about the size of one's 

 thumb, cut from the leg muscle of a cow, should be placed on each desk, together 

 with a dissecting needle. In small classes it may be best to allow each pupil to 

 discover what he can and to report his observations orally. But in divisions of 

 forty this method of procedure is likely to result in desultory observations from 

 the few and inattention and mischief on the part of the many. Instead, let each 

 pupil receive a mimeographed or printed set of questions something like the 

 following : 



1. Pull apart more or less the small bundles of which the meat is composed. 

 What is their shape ? Are they all of the same size ? 



2. What is the color of the meat ? What do you infer as to the presence or 

 absence of blood ? 



3. What are the characteristics of the tissue (called perimysium) which sur- 

 rounds and connects the muscle bundles ? 



4. Can you distinguish any fat in the piece of meat that you are studying ? 

 Make sure of your answer by rubbing the meat on a piece of paper. If fat is 

 present, where is it situated and what are its characteristics ? 



5. Is tendon (known also as gristle) present ? If so, give some of its charac- 

 teristics. 



6. Make a drawing of the piece of muscle (magnified about three times) 

 showing cross and longitudinal sections. Label bundles, perimysium, and fat 

 and tendons if they are present. See " Laboratory Exercises in Anatomy and 

 Physiology," Henry Holt & Co., New York City 



Every pupil is at once busy writing down in complete sentences the results 

 of his observations. Meanwhile by the use of three or four compound micro- 

 scopes the pupils in turn may be shown the microscopic structure of a bit of 

 beefsteak, and when they have taken their seats, they are prepared to write the 

 answers to two more questions, namely : 



1. Of what is the piece of muscle found to consist? 



'L Why is this kind of muscle called striped tnusde / 



A text-book lesson on the structure of muscle can now be learned in half the 

 time and with twice the interest. The papers of the previous day should then 

 be handed back and the necessary corrections should be made by the individual 

 pupil. Having now seen muscle tissue, discussed its structure, and studied 

 the descriptions and pictures in the text-book, stupid indeed must be the boy 

 who cannot give you a year or two later an intelligent account of muscle. 



