CHAPTER VII. 



WORK WITH THE HIGHER " POWERS." 



For this class of work we have in the preceding pages 

 unhesitatingly expressed our preference in favor of ob- 

 jectives of the widest aperture. Such are the instru- 

 ments we ourselves use daily, and can confidently recom- 

 mend to all who may be desirous of working with the 

 best instrumentation obtainable. Therefore, whatever 

 we may have to offer in the way of instructions sug- 

 gested by the above heading will be solely applicable 

 to the class of objectives generally known as " wide- 

 angled," to which we have given in the past, and pro- 

 pose yet to give in the future, a large amount of careful 

 study and attention. And first of all it becomes neces- 

 sary to disabuse the mind of the student of some of the 

 popular fallacies which have found outlet and circulation ' 

 through the medium of the microscopical periodical 

 literature of the present and past few years. These, as 

 will be discovered by the attentive observer, are par- 

 oxysmal in their nature ; in fact are veritable " chateaux 

 en espagne," at once inconsistent in detail, and roundly 

 absurd when contemplated as an entirety. Thus it oc- 

 curs that at one moment the student is taught that wide- 

 angled glasses are extremely inconvenient; that great 

 attention has to be bestowed on the adjustment and illu- 

 mination, etc. ; while on the other hand, another " au- 



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