MICROSCOPIC PREPARATIONS IN MARINE ZOOLOGY 317 



table or bench. A " Hand Microtome " does very well for 

 class work and rough demonstration, but will not be the 

 correct thing for serious work. 



It must have a steady adjustment, so as to raise the 

 object to be cut very regularly, and should have a scale, 

 to register what thickness is really being cut viz. TorVo", 

 5^77, etc., of an inch (or parts of a millimetre). Patterns 

 and prices are to be found on any list of scientific instru- 

 ments. 



Reagents and Material. The following are all that will 

 be really requisite for a beginning, and will allow of really 

 good results : 



Some absolute alcohol, say half-a-pint ; oil of cloves, 1 oz. ; 

 oil of bergamot, 1 oz. ; turpentine, say 8 oz. ; paraffin- wax, 

 4 oz. ; balsam and benzole, 1 oz. ; glycerine jelly, 1 oz. ; 

 picro carmine, 1 oz. ; borax carmine stain, 1 oz. ; 

 haematoxylin stain, 1 oz. ; Scherring's celloidin in chips, 

 1 oz. ; ether, say 4 oz. ; a 1 -gramme tube of osmic acid; 

 4 oz. of a concentrated aqueous solution of corrosive 

 sublimate ; plain glass slips, 3x1; thin white glass " sunk- 

 cell " slips, with cells oval and round, different sizes, say 

 1 gross assorted ; J-oz. of f-inch glass covers (circles), 

 f-in. diameter, or assorted up to f-inch ; a few dozen 

 " metal rings," for dry mounts, about f-in. diameter and 

 J-inch thick, or assorted ; a " dipping tube," with fine point 

 and rubber top ; a glass spirit lamp ; a few lengths of plain 

 glass tubing, about J-inch diameter and 6 inches long ; and 

 one or two bits of glass rod ; mounting needles, two or 

 three (ordinary sewing needles, with half their length 

 pressed into thin wooden handles, point outwards, of course) ; 

 a pair of fine forceps ; 2 razors and an oil-stone ; a few 

 watch glasses and covered pomatum pots ; two fine sable 

 brushes ("No. 1, water colour"); a "turn table"; 

 several glass bottles, with ground-glass stoppers, some 

 " wide - mouthed " ; a 1 - oz. bottle of shellac varnish 



