454 PREPARATION, MOUNTING, AND COLLECTION OF OBJECTS 



alteration of the ' American clothes-peg,' which is now in general 

 use in this country for a variety of purposes, all that is necessary 

 being to rub down the opposed surfaces of the ' clip ' with a flat file, 

 so that they shall be parallel to each other when an ordinary slide 

 with its cover is interposed between them (fig. 385). One of those 



FIG. 383. Slide-forceps. 



convenient little implements may also be easily made to serve the 

 purpose of a slide-forceps by cutting back the upper edge of the 

 clip, and filing the lower to such a plane that when it rests on its 

 flat side it shall hold the slide parallel to the surface of the table, as 

 in fig. 383. 



FIG. 384. Spring-clip. 



FIG. 885. Spring-press. 



Mounting Instrument. A simple mode of applying graduated 

 pressure concurrently with the heat of a lamp, which will be found 

 very convenient in the mounting of certain classes of objects, is 

 afforded by the mounting instrument devised by Mr. James Smith. 

 This consists of a plate of brass turned up at its edges, of the proper- 

 size to allow the ordinary glass slide to lie loosely in the bed thus 

 formed ; this plate has a large perforation in its centre, in order to 

 allow heat to be directly applied to the slide from beneath ; and it 



FIG. 386. Smith's mounting instrument. 



is attached by a stout wire to a handle shown in fig. 386. Close to 

 this handle there is attached by a joint an upper wire, which lies 

 nearly parallel to the first, but makes a downward turn just above 

 the centre of the slide-plate, and is terminated by an ivory knob ; 

 this wire is pressed upwards by a spring beneath it. whilst, on the 

 other hand, it is made to approximate the lower by a milled head 

 turning on a screw, so as to bring its ivory knob to bear with greater 

 or less force on the covering-glass. The special use of this arrange- 

 ment will be explained hereafter. 



