1892.]* THE MICKOSCOPE. 167 



the writer would choose as a maximum, this possesses a great 

 number of serviceable features ; and, notwithstanding the unfa- 

 vorable opinions that some eminent authorities have expressed on 

 theoretical grounds, its practical working seems excellent. The 

 jury especially complimented '• the extreme precision of all its 

 movements ;" and the writer found it unexpectedly easy with its 

 fine adjustment to focus a lens of n. a. 1.63 upon the shell of A. 

 pellucida, adjusting it instantly to exactly the plane of clearest 

 vision of the dots, and leaving it there, though every one knows 

 that, with extreme powers, it is often easy to catch glimpses, in 

 passing, of points whicli can hardly be permanently focused upon 

 and shown to other observers. 



One of the strongest and most agreeable impressions made by 

 the manufacturers' exhibit, in the aggregate, is that of the uni- 

 formity in good workmanship, and of the variety of convenient 

 and tasty designs, by all the prominent makers. 



All the manufacturers, witli iwo exceptions, already stated, are 

 of the continental sort, and never before has the writer seen 

 grouped in one room a representative collection of their micro- 

 scopes at all comparable to this. It is most interesting to note the 

 purity in which, in so man\' hands, their type of stand has been 

 preserved and the extent to \\hich its possibilities have been de- 

 veloped. This style must be abundantly satisfactory, alike to the 

 manufacturers and to their patrons, to be so freely reproduced and 

 elaborated bv so many ingenious workers, in so many diverse 

 places, with so little deviation from the prevailing type. The in- 

 terest of the display is doubled, to Americans, from the fact that 

 from the first we have been constantlv presented with the choice 

 between adopting the English or the continental style as the basis 

 of our own. The friendlv thousrh often severe battle of the 

 stands has continued throughout the memory of the present gen- 

 eration, and still continues to some extent notwithstanding the 

 evident fact that the English type has entered by far the most 

 largely into our experience thus far. Without forgetting that 

 where the wisdom and experience of continents are concerned, the 

 opinions of single individuals are of little importance, the writer 

 could not do justice to the title of this paper without giving his 

 •' impressions " on this very interesting phase of the subject. 

 While a user of the English style for more than thirty years, and 

 naturally with strong prepossessions in its favor and still satisfied 

 with it, he must admit that the neat and unpretentious continental 

 stands of the smaller and more simple grades become more at- 

 tractive with every increase of acquaintance. It would be diffi- 

 cult to find anything more tempting or practical for student's 

 laboratory work (exclusively) than the beautiful little stands ex- 

 hibited by all the French and German makers, though some of 

 the small American and English stands still seem to be equally 



