THE MICROSCOPE. 319 
tubes are so well known by accomplished opticians, whatever 
may be the case with those microscopists who recommend short 
tubes, that the leading maker of Europe actually produces two 
distinct series of objectives, one set being corrected for the six 
inch body of the continental stands, the other for the ten inch 
tubes of English and American models. In his catalogue Zeiss 
says: “In ordering please state explicitly whether the desired 
lens is for use with the continental (short) or with the English 
(long) body-tube.” Yet some professional microscopists urge 
their pupils and all histologists to select the continental stands 
and of course foreign objectives. If the American pupil is as 
bright as I believe him to be, he will carefully reject such ad- 
vice. When short tubes are used with objectives corrected for 
long bodies, the novice may not observe the deterioration in the 
image, but that deterioration will be there. This is the great 
objection to the short tubes. The beginner, instead of educating 
his eye to habits that are good, is unconsciously but none the 
less surely, acquiring habits that must be unlearned hereafter. 
Even the beginner should have the very best image that his ob- 
jectives are capable of giving. To handicap himself at the start 
is not only needless but almost criminal. The child who is to 
learn English is seldom started with the Greek alphabet. So the 
amateur microscopist who is anxious to learn how to make an 
intelligent use of the instrument, should not be forced by mis- 
taken teaching to educate his eye over poor images when better 
ones are as easily obtainable. In reference to the use of short 
body-tubes, adverse criticism would be out of place if the novice 
could be expected to begin his microscopical career by purchas- 
ing the best of homogeneous immersions, or first class adjusta- 
ble objectives, which he could employ intelligently and properly. 
He will probably do nothing of the kind, but he may unhap- 
pily fall into the clutches of the French Triplet fiend, with a 
short-bodied microscope, a combination whose qualities are be- 
yond the ability of the English language to characterize. 
Yours truly, 
AN AMATEUR. 
The Rev. M. J. Berkeley, the greatest English authority on 
Cryptogamic botany, is dead at the age of eighty-seven years. 
