CHAPTER II 



THE MICROSCOPE 



As the question of cost is usually one of the chief 

 considerations governing the choice of a microscope. 

 it can hardly be ignored here, and any advice on the 

 selection must of necessity be qualified by the price 

 which the purchaser is willing to pay. The particular 

 requirements of the branch of microscopy in which 

 the worker is most interested must first be con- 

 sidered, and the mechanical or optical arrangements 

 of a certain stand may point to its selection as the 

 most suitable in preference to others of equal merit, but 

 differing in detail. A microscope so selected will generally 

 do for photomicrography, although it must be borne in 

 mind that the calls to be made upon it are more exacting 

 than those usually demanded by visual work. 



Petrological, metallurgical, and other microscopes of 

 special construction are not considered in the present 

 chapter, and attention is confined to stands of the 

 ordinary form intended for general use. The chief 

 points to which attention should be directed are mentioned, 

 but it is not to be expected that all the movements and 

 fittings described will be found in any one stand unless 

 a very high price is given, and a microscope comprising 

 a selection of the most necessary is quite as useful for 

 most work, and its greater simplicity is even an ad- 

 vantage. But it is remarkable how some of the adjust- 

 ments that will be referred to as luxuries become almost 

 necessities to a worker who has become accustomed to 



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