50 PREPARATION AND MOUNTING 



usually affixed to one end of the slide, on which, is written 

 what is required. These labels may be bought of different 

 colours and designs ; but the most simple are quite as good, 

 and very readily procured. Take a sheet of thin writing 

 paper and brush over one side a strong solution of gum, 

 with the addition of a few drops of glycerine, or grains of 

 moist sugar, as above recommended ; allow this to dry, and 

 then with a common gun-punch stamp out the circles, 

 which may be affixed to the slides by simply damping the 

 gummed surface, taking care to write the required name, 

 &c., upon it before damping it, or else allowing it to become 

 perfectly dry first. 



There is one difficulty which a beginner often experiences 

 in sorting and mounting certain specimens under the micro- 

 scope, viz., the inversion of the objects ; and it is often 

 stated to be almost impossible to work without an erector. 

 But this difficulty soon vanishes, the young student becoming 

 used to working what at first seems in contradiction to his 

 sight. 



Let it be understood, that in giving the description of 

 those articles which are usually esteemed necessary in the 

 various parts of microscopic manipulation, I do not mean to 

 say that without many of these no work of any value can 

 be done. There are, as all will allow, certain forms of 

 apparatus which aid the operator considerably ; but the 

 cost may be too great for him. A little thought, however, 

 will frequently overcome this difficulty, by enabling him to 

 make, or get made, for himself, at a comparatively light 

 expense, something which will accomplish all he desires. 

 As an example of this, a friend of mine made what he terms 

 his " universal stand," to carry various condensers, &c. &c., 

 in the following way : Take a steel or brass wire, three- 

 sixteenths or one-quarter inch thick and six or eight inches 

 long ; " tap " into a solid, or make rough and fasten with 

 melted lead into a hollow, ball. (The foot of a cabinet 

 or work-box answers the purpose very well.) In the centre 

 of a round piece of tough board, three inches in diameter, 



