The Microscope. 17 



" The instrument may be laid down." Those American nii- 

 croscopists that beg their pupils to use no other than German 

 stands, do they teach those unfortunate pupils the proper method 

 of " laying down " the stand ? It is to be hoped so. To " lay 

 down the stand " and to do it properly, must be the very acme 

 of microscopical accomplishments. But what then becomes of 

 the microscopist? Does he grovel on his stomach, and rear his 

 head like a mud-turtle ? " The horse-shoe stands are excellently 

 adapted for this purpose, the two ends of the horse-shoe forming, 

 with the stage, a heavy tripod." The reader will find these 

 amazing sentences on page 121 of the English translation of the 

 German work referred to. They explain the object of the horse- 

 shoe shaped base of the German stands, a matter it seems, that I 

 did not before appreciate. 



A well known microscopist, who scarcely conceals himself be- 

 hind the transparent disguise of "J. G. H,", describing in The 

 Microscopical Bulletin^ a desirable instrument for the student, 

 says : "The base is large enough for steadiness, and rests on 

 three toes, a feature generally absent in German microscopes of 

 this class. The large, thin glass stage, always essential where 

 liquids are used, two and a half inches by four, stands, when 

 horizontal, three and a quarter inches from the table, and is 

 movable by the fingers in every direction. No clips disfigure 

 the stage ready to scalp off the cover glass when the slide is freely 

 moved, as in many essential observations. The microscope in- 

 clines to any angle on a properly made trunnion, a positive requisite 

 in all microscopes, enabling thereby im'portant observations to be 

 easily made, which cannot be done when the stage is restricted 

 to the horizontal. I have not found this inclined glass stage in- 

 compatible with the use of fluids, and every instrument should 

 have this facility when needed. . . .Coarse adjustment for focus is 

 by rack and pinion, mechanically perfect, and the fine adjust- 

 ment is without the slightest lateral twist, and moves the entire 

 optical part above the stage. This cannot be said of this class 

 of microscopes of European make. A movable substage, accur- 

 ately centred for necessary illuminating apparatus, and a con- 

 cave and plain mirror, also movable or stationary as necessity 

 may require. This substage holds the Iris diaphragm and 

 achromatic condenser, without which no instrument works at its 

 best capacity. The lenses are equal to anything European of like 



