NA rURE 



481 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1887. 



TWO RECENT WORKS ON MICROSCOPICAL 

 TECHNOLOGY. 



Elementary Microscopical Technology. Part I. The 

 Technical History of a Slide, from the Crude Materials 

 to the Finished Mount. By Frank L. James, Ph.D., 

 M.D. (St. Louis : Medical and Surgical Journal 

 Company, 1887.) 



A Course of Elementary Practical Histology. By W. 

 Fearnley. (London : Macmillan and Co., 1887.) 



THE above are the most recent of the numerous works 

 now before the public on this somewhat restricted 

 subject. The title of the second-named volume is some- 

 what of a misnomer, as the author deals with pure tech- 

 nology. Both works are for the most part expositions of 

 those well-tried methods which now constitute the basis 

 of the study ; as such they differ, as might be expected, 

 but little from their predecessors, except in matters of 

 detail, in methods of treatment, and in literary style : but 

 while this is the case, each volume has, nevertheless, a 

 marked individuality. 



Both works contain well-chosen woodcuts, illustrative 

 of the leading apparatus described. 



The first manual is a pleasing volume of 106 pages, 

 being the first of a series which the author has found it 

 necessary to prepare for the especial use of his own 

 students. He has aimed at producing a work " in which 

 nothing should be taken for granted, no previous acquaint- 

 ance, on the part of the student, with the subject-matter 

 presupposed," and we are pleased to admit that he has 

 succeeded in his endeavour. The volume embraces a 

 certain amount of botanical as well as zoological tech- 

 nique, and the most striking feature of it, apart from its 

 general novelty, is the manner in which the several sub- 

 jects are introduced. Thus, on p. 25, for example, we 

 find the microtome first defined as " a receptacle for 

 holding the material to be cut, a screw or other apparatus 

 for feeding it to the knife, and a razor or knife with a very 

 keen edge." The book is subdivided into fourteen 

 chapters, each abounding in sound sense, and the pro- 

 duct of great labour. Easy reading such as this is hard 

 writing, and the author shows throughout a keen appre- 

 ciation of the precise difificulties which beset a beginner. 

 He guards against laborious idleness (that pitfall of the 

 histologist) by giving the rationale of most of the compli- 

 cated processes which he adopts ; and his work leaves on 

 the mind the impression that the various methods are 

 " to be learned from experience and practice only, aided 

 by the experience of others in similar cases," and that 

 "experience, after all, is the great teacher, and the 

 knowledge that is to guide one in doubtful cases is rarely 

 to be obtained from text-books and manuals, no matter 

 how elaborate, practical, and complete they be. They 

 can only point the way, but individual experiment alone 

 can make the successful worker." We shall look with 

 interest for the continuation of this excellent work. 



The last-named work is the most recent of the 



"Manuals for Students," which are so familiar in our 



laboratories and class-rooms ; and it is, in many respects, 



a most remarkable book. There are in all 360 pages. 



Vol. XXXVI.— No. 934. 



and the author subdivides the whole into two parts, with 

 an appendix. The first part is devoted to a consideration 

 of apparatus and methods ; it contains all that is cus- 

 tomary and much that is useful, and it is by no means 

 destitute of originality. The author has set down his 

 experiences in a conscientious and painstaking manner ; 

 he states that his work " is intended as much for junior 

 practitioners working in a private laboratory of their 

 own as for medical students so called ; " and from a 

 declaration in his preface it is clear that he writes as a 

 private medical man for medical men. Although there 

 is a want of that system to which we are accustomed 

 in text-books by recognized teachers, the book may be 

 useful in extending beyond the usual boundaries the kind 

 of work now universally imparted in our leading schools. 

 It gives evidence of a large amount of honest labour, and 

 there is incorporated within it much sound advice, notably 

 that concerning the choice of a microscope ; and it will 

 be no fault of the author's if the student should go astray 

 in the use of a high power. In discussing the immersion- 

 lens an unnecessarily long disquisition is given upon the 

 history and optics of the subject. The remarks offered 

 might be advantageously condensed and re-placed in a 

 footnote, giving references to the authorities cited ; where- 

 as, on the other hand, descriptions such as those given 

 of the sub-stage condenser (p. 5) and of the camera 

 lucida (pp. 24-25) are wholly insufficient, when it is con- 

 sidered that the author professes to write " for those who 

 know little or nothing of the instrument." We see no 

 reason why i per cent, solution of silver nitrate in distilled 

 water need be placed in a bottle surrounded by black 

 paper. 



The second part is unique in construction, since it con- 

 sists, in the main, of 145 pages of thick paper for the 

 most part nearly blank. It is devoted to the enumeration 

 of title-heads of those objects which the student is directed 

 to examine, together with scant directions for so doing. 

 By far the greater part, however, is given up to a muster 

 of technical words, which under the head of " definitions 

 of terms," the author would presumably have the student 

 fill in, in school-boy fashion, for committal to memory. 

 Novelty this, unexpected but unwarrantable, as it leads 

 to a waste of valuable time and good paper. In giving 

 directions for drawing under the microscope, the author 

 advises (p. 28) that the typical parts be filled in — after 

 getting from the text-book " all information about these." 

 We have here something akin to an inversion of the 

 order of procedure which experience and common-sense 

 alike dictate. Whatever may be the success of this 

 volume, it will remain memorable for its striking origin- 

 ality of style. To begin with, the inventor of a method 

 or of a reagent is exalted to the dignity of a discoverer ; 

 and, to proceed, we read (pp. lo-ii) that "if the 

 student hesitates as to choice [of dry lenses recommended] 

 he had better adopt the street urchin's mode of settling 

 the matter by tossing up one of the coins of the realm " ; 

 while, by way of a novelty, we are informed (p. 61) that 

 " this almost universal desideratum of the physiologist 

 [anaesthetizing] is carefully concealed by professional 

 anti-vivisectionists who obtain their livelihood by harrow- 

 ing the feelings of the public." Perusal of almost every 

 page of this very remarkable book furnishes similar ec- 

 centricities ; but it must be remembered that it is intended 



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