ON MICROSCOPICAL DRAWING AND PAINTING. 165 



moment, especially of diatomaceous or infusorial 

 forms a broken fragment, a solitary individual 

 is the clue to a perfect whole, or group ; such built 

 up arrangements have no charm beyond technicality. 

 A good representation possesses a mingled quality 

 of accuracy and imperfection, a paradox, which 

 stamps its value ! Suppose a preparation of vertical 

 section of human scalp of rare excellence, double 

 stained, disclosing beauty in many perfect hairs 

 traceable in their course direct from the base of 

 the bulb, embedded in the follicle, and emerging 

 from the cuticle above. In cutting a section of 

 such delicacy it would be impossible to avoid slicing 

 through a hair or two diagonally, thus leaving the 

 tops of some, the ends of others; this result or 

 defect is a feature of significant interest from an 

 art point, faithfully copied it gives life and cha- 

 racter. In a diagram, the imperfection, by com- 

 parison with perfect hairs, might be remedied, the 

 mutilated parts " restored ;" but such an interfer- 

 ence destroys at once the graphic quality of the 

 picture, adding nothing to its scientific interest. 

 Absolute accuracy in depicting what is presented 

 may, however, in some cases, be qualified, and truth 

 evolved by a knowledge of the structure as it should 

 appear, particularly in cellular tissues, in close con- 

 tact. In such cases the artist ought to be cognisant 

 of elementary forms, as arranged under contiguous 

 pressures, and the position of spherical, oblong, or 

 cubical elastic cells, as affected by juxtaposition in, 

 over, or under spreading layers. Coupled with the 

 perspective of such conditions, this facilitates pro- 

 gress. In opaque subjects, under binocular vision, 

 where the rotundity of a reticulated surface fades 



