PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
N bringing this Handbook before the public, the 
Author believes that he is supplying a want which 
has been long felt. Much information concerning 
the “ Preparation and Mounting of Microscopic 
Objects ”’ has been already published; but mostly 
as supplementary chapters only, in books written 
professedly upon the Microscope. From this it is 
evident that it was necessary to consult a number 
of works in order to obtain anything like a com- 
plete knowledge of the subject. These pages, 
however, will be found to comprise most of the 
approved methods of mounting, together with 
the results of the Author’s experience, and that 
of many of his friends, in every department of 
