ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY^ ETC. 



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hooked over the back of the blade A, the spring of the wire securing 

 it firmly. At the two angles of the rod it rests on the blade, so that 

 in cutting sections any amount of pressure may be applied at these 

 points. The rod is attached to the knife by means of a clamp, which 



The section-flattener attaclied to a section knife : — a. Blade of the section 

 knife ; 5. section-iiattener ; c. milled nut ; d. the part of the clamp bearing the 

 hollow cylinder; e. part of the clamp; /. screw holding the two parts of the 

 clamp together. 



A. Section showing the manner of hooking the section-flattener over the back 

 of the blade. 



B and D. Sections showing the form of the section-flattener and its relation 

 to the cutting edge, except at the ends. 



0. Section of the tang of the knife, showing the manner of attaching the 

 clamp. 



consists of two pieces clasping the tang, and held together by a 

 screw c. To clean the knife and rod, or to remove sections, the rod 

 may be raised as it swings freely in the hollow cylinder attached to 

 d. The rod may be entirely removed, as is necessary in sharpening 

 the knife, by removing the milled nut c ; the entire apparatus may be 

 removed from the knife by loosening the screw /. 



Francotte's Section-flattener.* — P. Francotte also describes a 

 simple apparatus made by bending an iron wire or knitting needle 

 1 mm. in diameter into two right angles, the points A and B being 

 7 to 8 cm. apart. 



Fig. 45. 



Back of razor. 



Edge of razor. 



The arms A C and B D are bent into hooks, so as to attach the 

 apparatus to the back of the razor. A C and B D should be of such 

 a length that A B is • 1 or • 2 mm. behind the edge. 



In cutting, the sections are partially rolled round A B. It is then 

 easy to transfer them to a glass slide and to make them flat, which 

 is generally done without difficulty. 



* Bull. Soc. Belg. Micr., x. (1884) pp. 58-60 (1 fig.). 



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