12 The Microscope. 



by bending it backward. Now for an object,, some- 

 thing fresh, bright, and effective a little flower, a 

 blade of grass, or a frond of fern. If London-pride 

 be in bloom, you cannot do better than place one of 

 its flowers on the stage, or in the pair of forceps 

 which probably accompanies the microscope. See 

 that the light is properly condensed upon it, then 

 look into the tube ! You will see, perhaps, something 

 very white and brilliant, but very indistinct, and 

 placed uncomfortably awry in the field of view ; move 

 the object a little till it is nicely in the centre, and 

 turn the screws which raise and lower the tube, till 

 the little blossom suddenly shows itself like some 

 superb hot-house flower. If you move it slightly, 

 while viewing it through the microscope, you will 

 find that it is inverted shown upside down ; this is 

 the case in all compound microscopes, but you soon 

 become accustomed to it. Now for an attempt with 

 the transmitted light, (that is from the mirror B.) 

 The thickness of the London-pride flower will prevent 

 its being viewed in this way ; try a blade of grass, 

 and before changing the mode of illumination, view it 

 as you have just viewed the flower, for that is one 

 comfort in lamplight, you can so easily put successive 

 objects in the bright little focus of light, and there 

 they are at once, visible in the field of view. Thus 

 you can quickly show the blade of grass as an opaque 

 object, lowering the tube a little till you see it clearly 

 like some rich fabric woven of green and silver, 

 with occasional stripes of plain green, ornamented 

 with lines of long, glassy, colourless beads, and brist- 



