118 The Microscope. 



If the stage bears spring clips, the slide will be placed under 

 them, with the object to be examined directly above the stage 

 opening so that it may be lighted by the mirror. It is then 

 moved about under the clips by the fingers, the slightest move- 

 ment being magnified and appearing as something great, when 

 seen through the instrument. This finger manipulation is ex- 

 ceedingly awkward at first, not only because the fingers have 

 not been educated to such work, but because every movement 

 must be the reverse of that which appears to the eye to be de- 

 manded. If the object seems to need moving to the right the 

 slide must be pushed to the left; if it seems to demand an upward 

 movement, it will appear to travel in that direction when the 

 fingers pull it downward. But these little things are soon learned, 

 and the fingers will speedily make the correct amount of pressure 

 and in the right direction, with no conscious stimulus from the 

 mind. It will become automatic, and so cease to give trouble. 

 At first, however, the beginner must expect to see the object fly 

 out of the field more than once, before he learns to master his 

 fingers. This reversal of the movements is needed with all stages, 

 even with the mechanical, but with certain movable stages like 

 Mr Zentmayer's and others, the slide is simply laid on the sur- 

 face where it remains in position by its own weight, and the 

 stage is moved b}^ the educated fingers, or the fingers that soon 

 become educated. 



These movements of course apply to all objects, opaque as well 

 as transparent, but the illumination of the former must be modi- 

 fied, as they cannot be studied by transmitted light. To examine 

 them they must be illuminated from above, the concave mirror 

 being swung over the stage, and the light focussed on the surface 

 of the object, or if the Acme lamp is used, the Bull's eye lens on 

 its front may be employed without the mirrror. In this way 

 many apparently unattractive opa<j[ue objects become exquisite 

 or gorgeous. The reader, therefore, should not neglect this 

 method of illuminating and of studying substances that may 

 appear not worth the trouble. The unexpected revelations of 

 the microscope are among its greatest attractions, and the unex- 

 pected revelations of beauty in an object not charming to the 

 naked eye is a wonder that never ceases. 



