CHOICE AND USE OF APPARATUS 



must not be too soft or it will be crushed out of all 

 recognition in our fingers; it should not be hollow, 

 for solid stems are always easier to cut. Having 

 selected our stem and the spot upon it at which 

 we require a section, we cut straight across it at 

 that spot with our dissecting knife, in such a 

 manner that the cut edge is as nearly as possible 

 at right angles to the sides of the stem. A piece 

 two or three inches long is the most comfortable 

 to hold. 



Holding our razor firmly in the right hand we take 

 our specimen in the thumb and index finger of the 

 left hand. Place the side of the stem against the 

 first joint of the index finger and slightly bend the 

 tip of the finger round the object. The end of the 

 stem, from which we propose to cut our section, 

 should be slightly above the level of the index finger. 

 With the thumb, the stem is pressed firmly against 

 the first joint of the index finger and the first joint 

 of the thumb must not be bent upwards. This 

 last point is very important, as we shall see in a 

 moment. From our description the method of 

 holding the stem may seem somewhat cramped; 

 it should not be so, however, and an easy position 

 will help towards success but let it be the correct 

 position. We may play the violin, in a manner, 

 without learning the correct method of bowing but 

 we can never become expert violinists imless we 

 hold our bow properly, in the same way we can 

 never cut really fine sections unless we hold our 

 speimen in the correct way. We now lay our razor 



