80 The Microscope. 



I have seen men clutch the upright stand by the body and 

 the milled heads of the coarse adjustment, drag out the unre- 

 sisting thing and set it down on the table with a bang. Such 

 men are not fit to possess a microscope. The instrument may be 

 strong and well made, but as some one has said, it is never ne- 

 cessary to brutalize it. If it be supplied with a base board as it 

 should be, gently slide it out of the case by pulling board and 

 all toward you, and as gently place it on the table. If it be not 

 attached in any way to the case, carefully lift it out by means of 

 the arm. If you treat the instrument kindly it will repay you 

 a thousand fold. If you attemjDt to coerce it, a rebellion will be 

 speedy and your downfall sure. 



Sometimes one eye-piece will be found in the body tube, some- 

 times in a side box or drawer, according to the size and style of 

 the case and the stand. In any event the eye-piece is to be 

 gently dropped into the top of the body tube as the stand rests 

 vertically on the table. The microscopist seats himself on a 

 chair and in any position that he may find comfortable. Every 

 observer will form habits of his own in reference to his position 

 before the instrument, and will have his own ideas as to the 

 proper size and style of his work table, and perhaps even to the 

 number of legs that the table should have. Some writers have 

 advised that there shall be three legs to the microscopical table 

 so that it may be steady on an uneven surface. There is no ob- 

 jection to three legs, if the microscopist wants them. He may 

 also sit on a three legged stool, if he should desire to do so. But 

 since the floors of modern houses are seldom uneven enough to dis- 

 turb the equinimity of a quadrupedal table, that seems to be the 

 preferable form, the great desiderata being firmness and solidity. 

 I remember that the ladies in my family were once attacked by 

 the assthetic notion that if I could be induced to put the micro- 

 scope on what they called a " Tea-poy " table, and under a glass 

 shade, it would look well. The table had four filamentous legs, 

 and a shelf half way between the floor and the top, the whole 

 being a silly invention of some frivolous mind. The thing 

 trembled at a touch, the shelf scraped my shins, the microscope 

 danced, the lamp wabbled, and the deluded victim expressed his 

 opinion. Esthetics are well enough, but they should be looked 

 for in the object under the lens rather than in the table. I now use 

 a strong, substantial, four legged pine table that cost less than 



