OF MICKOSCOPIO mm.*"* '-fity 



The ether process of drying tissues has been described by 

 Mr. Suffolk, at a meeting of the Quekett Microscopical 

 Club, and was communicated by Mr. Crooker to him it is 

 as follows : A wide-mouthed well- stoppered bottle must be 

 selected. At the bottom is placed a slice from the bowl of 

 a tobacco-pipe, forming a support for a Berlin crucible with 

 its cover. A quantity of fused chloride of calcium in frag- 

 ments is placed at the bottom of the bottle, which is nearly 

 filled with pure ether, so that the crucible may be covered. 

 The tissue to be dried is placed in the crucible, and is covered, 

 if necessary to keep it from floating, by a piece of glass. 

 The ether takes water from the tissue, and the chloride 

 again takes it from the ether ; so that the section is thus 

 gradually dried, and with as little shrinking as possible, 

 however delicate it may be. This process is most fitted for 

 the preparation of succulent roots, tubers, or stems, and in- 

 deed is only fit for those tissues which are not injured by 

 immersion in ether, or dissolved by it, such as fat, &c., or 

 colouring matter. 



DISSECTION. As I stated at the commencement of this 

 chapter, no written instructions can enable any student to 

 become an adept in this branch without much experierce 

 and no little study. I will, however, describe the necessary 

 apparatus, and afterwards mention the mode of treatment 

 which certain objects require. 



A different microscope is manufactured for the purpose 

 of dissection, most first-rate makers having their own model. 

 The object-glasses of many of these are simple, and conse- 

 quently not expensive ; but one of the great requisites is a 

 stage large enough to hold the trough, in which the opera- 

 tion is often performed. Where this is the case it would 

 scarcely be worth the expense of getting a dissecting micro- 

 scope if the student were pursuing no particular study, 

 bnt merely used the instrument when an object to be 

 operated upon turned up accidentally. The ordinary form 

 is much improved for this purpose, by having two wooden 

 r<*sts placed at the sides of the microscope, upon which the 



