236 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxviii. 



study. Tutors, too, are prone to regard photomicrography 

 as an expensive and tedious business, and are therefore 

 inclined to shun the art. Notwithstanding the prevailing 

 ideas, photomicrography as applied to timber work is an 

 absorbingly interesting and edifying occupation, and withal 

 simple and easily mastered. Writers on the subject are apt 

 to magnify the difficulties and to complicate the apparatus 

 necessary for successful work, thus making the expense* 

 if one accept their estimates, almost prohibitive. Little 

 wonder, then, that few private individuals possess a photo- 

 micrographic outfit. Indeed, comparatively few laboratories 

 have such an outfit among their equipment, and where 

 such exists it is often unnecessarily complicated and 

 expensive. 



It is with a view to removing some of the misapprehen- 

 sions regarding this important phase of photography, and to 

 affording simple guidance to those who may require it, that 

 this short article is written. 



A comparatively simple, inexpensive apparatus is all that 

 is required, and with it several excellent negatives can be 

 got in an evening. The necessary skill in manipulation is 

 very soon acquired even by those who have no previous 

 knowledge of photography. Neither expense nor difficulty 

 should deter anyone. These observations the writer con- 

 fidently makes as the result of a fairly wide experience of 

 a simple outfit capable of very good work, and he makes 

 no apology for describing the methods and apparatus which 

 he has for a long time employed. 



Preparation of the Timber to be examined. — The timber 

 whose structure it is proposed to study is cut up into 

 convenient cubes and boiled in water for about half an 

 hour. This operation drives out air and softens the blocks. 

 The cubes are then immersed in a mixture of equal parts 

 of glycerine and alcohol. The timber is thus rendered 

 more amenable to further treatment. 



Preparation of Sections. — Microtomes specially made for 

 cutting wood sections are very expensive, and for most 

 purposes are unnecessary. Good sections can usually be 

 got without incurring great expense by the use of a 

 suitable hand microtome. The writer uses a microtome 

 which requires the embedding of the material in paraffin 



