Microtomes : their Choice and Use 227 



To Set a Razor. The time will quickly come when the 

 edge of the razor will become notched, and in order to 

 restore the edge a hone must be used, a strop being useless 

 for the purpose. 



Hone. A very good hone, known as Water of Ayr 

 stone, may be obtained for about two shillings. The size 

 of its sharpening surface should be 9 inches by 2 inches. 

 Water, not oil, should be used as the lubricant ; and it will 

 be found to be a good plan to allow a stream of water to 

 flow continuously over the hone during the whole time of 

 sharpening. 



Care should be taken not to scratch the hone. Scalpels, 

 needles, or any other such small instruments, should never 

 be sharpened upon it. Having the hone flooded with water, 

 lay the razor flat and diagonally upon the left of the hone 

 in such manner that the edge of the razor is towards the 

 right and entirely upon the hone. Draw the razor lightly 

 but firmly edge forwards and from heel to point along the 

 hone to the extreme right ; turn the razor with a neat 

 action of the fingers combined with a turn of wrist, its 

 back being kept on the hone, and draw the edge forwards 

 from heel to point as before, from right to left. 



Maintain this process to and fro until the notch is 

 removed, remembering always that the lightest pressure 

 will secure the best and quickest results. In fact, it is 

 impossible to hone a razor by hard pressure. When the 

 notch is removed by honing, the edge of a razor, when care- 

 fully examined with a lens magnifying 10 diameters, should 

 present throughout its length a straight line, with perhaps 

 here and there a slight fringe or jaggedness standing out 

 from the straight edge, the so-called wire edge. This may 

 be removed by stropping. The razors with one side flat 

 must only be honed upon the concave side, and are more 

 difficult for the novice to sharpen than the other forms. 

 Having dried the razor and returned the hone to its place, 

 we now finish the sharpening by means of the strop. 



The Strop. Many kinds of strops may be purchased 



152 



