4 METHODS OF MICROSCOPICAL RESEARCH. 



students will require all the staining re- agents and 

 mounting media necessary for the proper treatment 

 and permanent preparation (as slides) of both 

 vegetable and animal specimens, tissues and sec- 

 tions. 



The study of both organic and inorganic histology 

 is so complicated, that verbal descriptions, however 

 exhaustive and perfect, are, without microscopical 

 demonstration, in many cases, wholly inadequate; 

 diagrams and drawings, therefore, are constantly 

 employed to supplement the descriptions of the 

 lecturer. In the preparation of such valuable aids 

 to verbal description, the microscope is a most 

 valuable, if not an indispensable adjunct, and it 

 has become necessary, equally for the student, 

 the investigator, the observer, the demonstrator 

 and the lecturer, to thoroughly understand the 

 construction and the use of the microscope itself, 

 and of the various apparatus necessary for careful 

 observations and investigations. 



II. On Re=agents, their Constitution 

 and Action. 



This is one of the most important branches of 

 Microscopical Technology, and as staining is an 

 art, so a thorough knowledge of the behaviour of 

 the various tissues under the action of chemical 

 re-agents is an absolute necessity alike for the 

 observer and the student. It will be continually 

 found that the optical -means at the disposal of the 

 histologist are insufficient or inadequate to the 

 resolution of structure, and although much may be 



