OF MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS. 159 
The ether process of drying tissues has been described by 
Mr. Suffolk, at a meeting of the Quekett Microscopical 
Club, and was communicated by Mr. Crooker to him—it is 
as follows :—A wide-mouthed well-stoppered bottle must be 
selected. At the bottom is placed a slice from the bowl of 
a tobacco-pipe, forming a support for a Berlin crucible with 
its cover. A quantity of fused chloride of calcium in frag- 
ments is placed at the bottom of the bottle, which is nearly 
filled with pure ether, so that the crucible may be covered. 
The tissue to be dried is placed in the crucible, and is covered, 
if necessary to keep it from floating, by a piece of glass. 
The ether takes water from the tissue, and the chloride 
again takes it from the ether; so that the section is thus 
“gradually dried, and with as little shrinking as possible, 
however delicate it may be. This process is most fitted for 
the preparation of succulent roots, tubers, or stems, and in- 
deed is only fit for those tissues which are not injured by 
immersion in ether, or dissolved by it, such as fat, &c., or 
colouring matter. 
Dissection.—As I stated at the commencement of this 
chapter, no written instructions can enable any student to 
become an adept in this branch without much experience 
and no little study. I will, however, describe the necessary 
apparatus, and afterwards mention the mode of treatment 
which certain objects require. 
A different microscope is manufactured for the purpose 
of dissection, most first-rate makers having their own model. 
The object-glasses of many of these are simple, and conse- 
quently not expensive; but one of the great requisites is a 
stage large enough to hold the trough, in which the opera- 
tion is often performed. Where this is the case it would 
scarcely be worth the expense of getting a dissecting micro- 
scope if the student were pursuing no particular study, 
but merely used the instrument when an object to be 
operated upon turned up accidentally. The ordinary form 
is much improved for this purpose, by having two wooden 
rests placed at the sides of the microscope, upon which the 
