70 



THE AMEEICAN MONTHLY 



[April, 



in laboratories of several kinds, with 

 arrangements widely different for 

 light, using sunlight, the electric 

 light and the common candle, work- 

 ing from early in the morning until 

 late at night. With this somewhat un- 

 usual experience, it has seemed pro- 

 bable that perhaps I might add a few 

 words of interest to those already 

 spoken by the author of the papers 

 above referred to, and also to your own 

 most excellent ideas in the January 

 number of the Journal, upon small 

 microscopes. I certainly agree to the 

 proposition that a well-lighted room 

 is an essential, but, provided the 

 room be large enough for the work- 

 ing tables to be at some little distance 

 from the windows, I do not consider 

 that any special exposure is superior 

 to another. Light coming from the 

 side of the room is, of course, much 

 better than from a skylight. (I worked 

 for a long time in the room upon the 

 top floor of the Bellevue Hospital 

 old museum and post-mortem rooms, 

 where the lighting was from windows 

 mainly in the ceiling, and found it 

 anything but pleasant.) My private 

 and student's laboratories now in the 

 Medical Department of the Univer- 

 sity of New York, both have almost 

 a northern and western exposure ; 

 this I find very nice indeed. With 

 the exception of the electric light, 

 artificial light is, I am sure, most un- 

 satisfactory for the study of tissues. 

 Every one is familiar with the differ- 

 ence produced by lamplight in tissues 

 stained with hsematoxylin, and even 

 carmine imbibitions are much altered 

 when viewed by any other than day- 

 light, while picric acid stainings can 

 scarcely be seen at all except by day- 

 light. The eye does suffer from con- 

 stant work by artificial light ; my own 

 personal experience, and that of many 

 of my friends and former pupils, will 

 afford ample proof of this. Our stu- 

 dent's laboratory in the University, 

 built according to my own suggestions, 

 has proved perfectly satisfactory after 

 a number of years of daily work for 

 nine months out of the twelve. We 



have accommodations for twenty-four 

 men. The tables are about three 

 feet square, and fastened to the floor. 

 Two tables face each other, so that 

 one Bunsen burner, fastened upon 

 the line of junction of the tables, and 

 one rack of reagents — staining fluids, 

 etc. — serve the two tables very well 

 indeed. A microscope is supplied to 

 every table, and a drawer contains 

 the little dishes for staining, needles, 

 etc., for work. 



The question now arises as to the 

 relative merits of large and small mi- 

 croscopes. Any worker will surely 

 agree to the superiority of the smaller 

 and more simple instrument. I know, 

 full well, that the dealer praises the 

 large and showy microscope, and the 

 novice is impressed by the fine effect 

 of the shining brass. Not so, how- 

 ever, the thorough microscopist, for he 

 has learned that an instrument which 

 cannot be used comfortably in the 

 vertical position, is a constant source 

 of annoyance while studying fluids 

 and semi-solid structures, on account 

 of the motion produced by gravita- 

 tion, and the stage becoming fouled. 

 A simple, plain-stage is, for obvious 

 reasons, most desirable, and even the 

 sliding motion for coarse adjustment 

 is preferred with us. For my own 

 part, Mr. Editor, I agree with you 

 that the large and cumbrous micro- 

 scopes are not so desirable for any 

 purpose as the smaller model. • Any 

 size of tube can be used, even upon a 

 low stand, and even for the resolu- 

 tion of lined test-objects, the smaller 

 model does all that the larger can. 

 The large Zeiss stand is, to my mind, 

 the most perfect instrument made for 

 all purposes except, perhaps, photo- 

 graphy (which requires special ar- 

 rangements to obtain the finest ef- 

 fects), and this instrument enables the 

 greatest amount of work to be done 

 in the least time. In the laboratories 

 of the Old World small models, and 

 very plain ones, have been, and are 

 still, used exclusively. I have often 

 had students come into the labora- 

 tory and desire to use their own mi- 



