48 PREPARATION AND MOUNTING 



the damp will certainly become condensed upon the inner side, 

 and the examination seriously interfered with. 



Many of the Foraminifera require cutting into sections if it is 

 wished to examine the internal structure, &c., " decalcifying" is 

 also desirable in some cases; both of these processes will be 

 found described at length in the chapter on Sections and Dissec- 

 tion. 



When more than one specimen of some particular shell is ob- 

 tained, it is better to place them upon the slide in different posi- 

 tions, so as to show as much of the structure as possible. I will 

 conclude this subject by quoting a passage from T. Rymer 

 Jones : " It is, therefore, by no means sufficient to treat these 

 shells as ordinary objects by simply laying them on a glass slide, 

 so as to see them only from one or two points of view ; they must 

 be carefully examined in every direction, for such is the diversity 

 of form that nothing short of this will be at all satisfactory. For 

 this purpose, they should be attached to the point of a fine needle, 

 so that they may be turned in any direction, and examined by 

 reflected light condensed upon them by means of a lens or side 

 reflector. In many of the thick-shelled species it will be neces- 

 sary to grind them down on a hone [see Chapter V.] before the 

 number and arrangement of the internal chambers is discernible ; 

 and in order to investigate satisfactorily the minutiae of their 

 structure, a variety of sections, made in various ways, is indispen- 

 sable." 



Plants afford an almost inexhaustible treasury for the micro- 

 scope, and many of them show their beauties best when mounted 

 dry. When any of these also are to be mounted, care must be 

 taken that they are thoroughly dry, otherwise the damp will cer- 

 tainly arise in the cell, and injure the object ; and it may be here 

 mentioned that long after a leaf has every appearance of dryness, 

 the interior is still damp, and no way can be recommended of 

 getting rid of this by any quicker process than that effected by 

 keeping them in a warm room, as many leaves, &c., are utterly 

 spoiled by using a hot iron or other contrivance. The safest way 

 is to press them gently betwixt blotting-paper, which may be 

 removed and dried at short intervals ; and though this may appear 

 a tedious operation, it is a safe one. 



