104 THE MICROSCOPE. . July 



How I Got Tourmaline for my Microscope. 



By HANS M. WILDER, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



I went to the " only" Foote and got a lump (small 

 one) of rather light colored (quite colorless) Tourmaline 

 for about twenty cents, and proceeded forthwith to re- 

 duce it to a "film;" easily thought, but unmindful of 

 my musty mineralogy, I put a sharp knife, fortified 

 with a smart blow with a hammer, on to one side of the 

 lump, hoping to cleve it somehow. As was to be expect- 

 ed, I merely reduced it to fragments, luckily obtaining 

 two " slivers " which I proceeded to grind down. I suc- 

 ceeded — at least my fingertips made me believe it — and 

 found that the results worked farely well. Hence I 

 argued, that a professional grinder (or petro-micros- 

 copist) would succeed, and that a price of, say,$l. to $1.50 

 would be fair for a small slip, say 1-6 or 1-4 inch square, 

 which size is suflBcient. The Tourmalines of microscopical 

 dealers are quoted as high as $8. (See Beck.) Then I 

 bethought myself of a pair of Tourmaline tongs which I 

 had. I cut ofi" one of the fittings, and fitted it in the 

 lower part of a wooden ointment box, wide enough to 

 slip easily over the eye piece. 



From what I have observed, I think that the light 

 brown ones are the best, and the slight alteration in the 

 shade of the colors does not make any difference for 

 amusement purposes, and hardly any for scientific in- 

 vestigations "My" diaphragm is a good idea, the 

 only trouble I have is that the condensing lens is rather 

 unmanageable, as far as accurate focusing is concerned, 

 but my idea can be improved upon. At any rate it gives 

 greatly increased illumination — whether accompanied 

 by the production of false images, is not for me to say — 

 and up to I objective it is reliable enough. 



