268 The Microscope. 



is not. Tliis is my first plea for the sliort' slide. Sucli sj^fety 

 can hardly he furnished by any other device, and certainly no 

 other is so free from annoying care. 



Second. The short slide is more conveniently stored in a hori- 

 zontal till, which is preferable to sliding in the sawed grooves, 

 and just as easily handled b}' the free end when we are accus- 

 tomed to it. 



Third. The short slide is less likely to be broken if it acci- 

 dentally falls on a hard floor, the liability to break increasing 

 as the square of the length, or more rapidly. A slide an inch 

 long would hardly break once in a thousand falls, while one a 

 foot long would most surely break at the first. 



Fourth. The short slide is lighter and more conveniently 

 packed for transportation, which is important especially in the 

 mails. 



Fifth. The short slide costs less, an item of some importance 

 to many of us. 



There are some obj editions to the short slide. The principal 

 ones are as follows : 



First. It is not the standard slide. It is not the fashion, and 

 to be out of fashion is a great load for many to bear. 



Second. The long slide may be better adapted to work on the 

 turn-table, which is a great convenience where a cell is to be 

 made ; still, the circular cell can be made on the end of the 

 slide with a suitable turn-table. A square cell can readily and 

 more quickly be made by hand, and a square cover can be 

 cemented around the border more quickly than the slide can be 

 placed on the turn-table, and the square cover is better for most 

 purposes, except for glycerine mounting, now nearl}^ out of 

 credit, and perhaps for dry mounting. 



Third. The long slide has some claims of moment in manipu- 

 lating on the stage, in case we have no slide carrier ; but why 

 be without a slide carrier ? If I had none I would at once 

 improvise one with a thin piece of cigar box lid, pasteboard, 

 tin, or a long piece of glass, five or six inches long, the former, 

 of course, with a hole cut in the middle. I have tried micro- 

 scopes formerly without slide carriers, but after using one for 

 fifteen years wiLh a slide carrier, I would almost as soon think 

 of being without a microscope as to be without this first and 

 greatest convenience in manipulating the slide on the stage. 



