20 PRACTICAL HISTOLOGY. 



only be dried when wanted. The drying is effected 

 by a thin linen cloth, one corner of which is laid flat 

 on the table, and the cover-glass, having been placed 

 on this, is gently rubbed, first on the one surface and 

 then on the other, with another corner of the cloth. 

 Square cover-glasses should always be used in prefer- 

 ence to round ones The most convenient size for 

 general purposes is three-quarters of an inch square. 



Mounted needles. These are fine sewing-needles 

 mounted in a wooden handle, with about a quarter of 

 an inch of their point projecting. They are amongst 

 the most useful instruments which the histologist 

 possesses, and will be in constant requisition. They 

 must always be kept clean and sharp. Xeedles may 

 also be mounted in crochet-needle holders. These 

 have the advantage that fresh needles can at any time 

 be readily substituted. 



Scissors and forceps. A small pair of scissors with 

 short, straight blades, is necessary. Their cutting 

 edge must always be kept very sharp, especially 

 towards the point, otherwise they are worse than 

 useless. A small, curved pair is often useful, but 

 these are much more difficult to keep sharp. At 

 least two pairs of small steel forceps are requisite. 

 The blades should be short, broad at their junction, 

 so as not to admit of lateral deviation, and towards 

 the end gradually tapering to a blunt point. They 

 are slightly roughened at the end, so as to afford a 

 firmer grasp. The long, slender forceps which are 

 commonly sold as microscopic forceps are useless for 

 histological purposes. 



Slips of white bibulous paper should always be at 

 hand. They serve both -for soaking up excess of 

 fluid from under the cover-glass and for placing the 

 slide upon, when preparing a tissue that has been 

 stained, so that it is better seen than it would be 

 upon a black surface. On the other hand, it is better 

 to use the black surface for working upon when tis- 

 sues are unstained. One or two large, shallow glass 

 dishes, either flat (such as are used by photographers) 



