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Dr. Hallifax said he believed the Germans possessed the 

 secret of the means of obtaining such a section, which they did not 

 promulgate to the world. The Germans cut such sections for sale, 

 and did it on a very large scale. 



Dr. Hallifax next showed the method of preparing soft objects 

 for cutting, illustrating his remarks by producing a dead wasp, 

 already attached to the cylinder by a mixture of gum and creosote, 

 which he recommended as a preservative of like specimens, as the 

 creosote remedied the brittleness of the gum. Wrapping a strip 

 of paper round the cylinder so that the top edge of the paper was 

 about on a level with the wasp, he poured melted white wax into this 

 readily made capsule, completely submerging the body of the 

 insect. When cooled, the wax held the body firmly, a cutting of 

 the soft body being thus safely made. He also showed another 

 similar apparatus, the " well" of which, however, was surrounded 

 by a glass plate, the smoothness of which obviated, as far as 

 possible, friction with the cutting instrument, which he advised 

 should be moistened with methylated spirit. He mentioned that 

 another mode of cutting was to place the object in the hand, 

 and there was, too, a knife with two blades for cutting purposes, 

 having a screw by which the two blades were brought together. 



Mr. Haselwood pointed out that there was a newer invention 

 —a knife with three blades, so that two sections, showing the con- 

 tiguity of the parts, might be cut at the same time. 



Dr. Hallifax then said that, in order to procure an accurate 

 specimen of a minute section, it was necessary to have one side of 

 the razor ground perfectly flat so that it might come in direct 

 opposition with the object, and not scoop the object and thus 

 destroy the specimen. 



Mr. Haselwood observed that it had been recommended 

 that the Is army razor should be used, on account of its thin 

 blade. 



It was suggested by a member that the Plantagenet razor was 

 very useful for such a purpose. 



Mr. Haselwood further informed the meeting that, with the 

 use of a new medical instrument, and the ether spray, medical 



