144 THE MICROSCOPE. Sept. 



tion of perfect work. The mere amateur or the one not 

 equipped for the purpose can hardly hope or expect to equal 

 the expert manufacturer. Imperfect machinery will always 

 produce imperfect work. So while one may succeed in minor 

 details, unless the main machinery is perfect the whole result 

 will be wrong. It is also well that an amateur should purchase 

 a few type slides'froma dealer. The beauty and completeness 

 of such slides will be guide posts along his line of progress. 

 No one can discover everything and it is but the aggregation of 

 ideas that constitutes our progress and our civilization. 



Sections of Tapeworm. — Nature has divided tapeworms 

 into sections. To mount a section it should be soaked in hy- 

 drate of potash, then washed and cleansed in water and then 

 stained with carmine, hematoxylin or some other suitable 

 stain. But the amateur should be very careful in handling 

 these sections, for each section, below the head, contains myri- 

 ads of eggs and one minute egg from the finger to the mouth, 

 would pass to the stomach, then into the circulation, and finally 

 to the brain where convulsions and death are caused. It is a 

 good object for amateurs to let alone. Students in this depart- 

 ment are especially liable to danger. 



iEcidia or Cluster Cups. — These are beautiful objects for 

 low powers of the microscope. They are found in leaves in the 

 spring. They were formerly suj^posed to be distinct species 

 and are still classified as such in foreign works. Thf^y are now 

 known to constitute the initial stage of higher fungi. A s 'Ction 

 of a leaf with a cluster cup is an instructive object for a quarter 

 inch objective. See Bessy's Botany, page 311 and see M. C. 

 Cooke, Microscoi)ic Fungi, Chap. 1. 



Celloidin Imbedding. — Drop the scraps of tissue that are 

 to be cut with a microtome into a paper box filled with fluid 

 celloidin where they will naturally sink to the bottom. After 

 the celloidin hardens, tear away the paper box and j^ou have a 

 beautiful block of celloidin. Then place it, bottom side up, in 

 the microtome and the second cut will include sections of the 

 imbedded tissues. 



To Clean Balsam Mounts. — Use a strong solution of caus- 

 tic potash. Apply with a brush. 



