MICROSCOPIC PREPARATIONS IN MARINE ZOOLOGY 321 



Now great care is required. Raise the screw a very 

 little, holding the razor in the right hand, and pressing 

 the end of the blade tight down to the brass plate. Cut 

 smartly, from you. A thin section will either remain on the 

 blade or curl off in front of it. These sections which should 

 look like little bits of the thinnest tissue paper, mere cob- 

 web thickness, should be put on a sheet of white paper. 

 Now have a bowl full of fairly warm, not " hot," water, and 

 with the fine forceps throw a section into the water. If 

 the section was curled it will straighten out and the wax 

 will just soften and float, section and all, like a little film, 

 on the water. 



Take a slide, albumen upwards, and insert it under the 

 section. Coax the latter to the exact centre of the slide 

 by means of a mounting needle ; raise it gently from the 

 water, and drain carefully. Wipe off all the water you can 

 with a cambric handkerchief, free from fluff, and let the 

 slide dry. When dry, or nearly so, hold the slide at some 

 distance over the spirit lamp, section upwards, until the 

 wax just melts. Now drop on with the dipping tube a 

 few drops of turpentine, shake them off, and repeat (or 

 you can soak in benzoline) ; the wax will be washed away 

 and the sponge section will stick fast to the glass. 



With a glass rod put on a drop of oil of cloves, remove the 

 surplus, either with the corner of a cambric handkerchief 

 or a bit of blotting-paper, but beware of fluff. 



Now with a glass rod put a small drop of balsam and 

 benzole on top of the section ; take a thin cover circle with 

 the forceps (see that it is clean), warm the cover in the 

 spirit lamp flame, and place it gently over the section, not 

 flat at once, but letting one edge touch first and then let it 

 tilt over gently like the cover of a book. This avoids the 

 formation of air bubbles under the cover, which spoil the 

 slide. Now put on a spring clip and put the slide 

 to dry. 

 x 



