484 SUMMARY OV CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



tho freedom of movomcnt of the slide over the field of the Microscope — 

 the two things which arc most indispensable in practice. A good stage 

 should he large and flat, with nothing upon it except a pair of spring 

 clips and a hole for a diaphragm. The diaphragms are often a matter 

 of particularly fanciful construction. Thus the iris diaphragm is often 

 introduced to allure the inexperienced, hut it is not a good form except 

 iu conjunction with an achromatic condenser. There arc other details of 

 construction which are equally open to unfavourable criticism, but it is 

 unnecessary to go into their discussion. 



" Unfortunately, while we see so much pains expended upon the 

 brasswork of the Microscope, we sec a neglect of tho optical members 

 of the instrument ; so that the Microscope as a whole is converted into a 

 showy piece of apparatus, and the eye-pieces and objectives are generally, 

 though not always, of a decidedly inferior character; when they are 

 really gcod, the lenses are very expensive. 



" If, low, our manufacturers would reverse the distribution of their 

 painstaking, and make a simple stand of small size and compact model 

 with first-class lenses, they would furnish something which could be 

 recon. mended to students and others by conscientious advisers. 



" Turning now to the consideration of Continental Microscopes, so 

 universally used in Europe, and now happily gaining supremacy in this 

 country, we see at once that they conform to the practical requirements 

 which are disdained in the making of most American Microscopes. 



" They are built with a firm base. The stage is easily reached by 

 the fingers when the hand is resting upon the table. It carries no 

 superfluous appurtenances, but is large and flat. The eye-piece is of 

 such a height, that when the instrument is vertical it is easy to look into 

 it. Concerning the lenses, it must be said that most of the European 

 manufacturers are very conscientious in regard to those which they 

 furnish. There are, of course, some makers who put upon the market 

 objectives of inferior quality, and which are sold as such, and therefore 

 at a correspondingly low price. This is of course legitimate, as there is 

 a demand for cheap Microscopes. 



" The price of these desirable Microscopes is very much less than 

 that of undesirable American ones. According to our system of protec- 

 tion, the physicians, scientific men, and students are taxed enormously if 

 they buy a foreign instrument. Put into plain English, this means that 

 we arc heavily fined if we secure what we require in the way of Micro- 

 scopes, while a small number of manufacturers, whose money-making is 

 of very little significance to the public, receive a bonus for furnishing 

 an inferior article at a high price. Thus what is really important is 

 sacrificed for what is unimportant. Many valuable members of the 

 nation are sacrificed by being obliged to pay for the advantage of a small 

 number of men who have never shown themselves willing to supply to 

 those by whose sacrifices they benefit, the kind of instrument wanted. 



" Can anything be more unjust ? and are not we, who are engaged in 

 university careers, in the practice of medicine, or any other useful 

 occupation requiring the employment of Microscopes, justified in com- 

 plaining of the condition of affairs, which is little short of a national 

 calamity ? Is it unreasonable to ask the manufacturers of Microscopes 

 in this country to furnish us instruments of the kind we really need, as 

 some sort of acknowledgment of the money they extract from us whether 

 we will or not ? 



