10 Modern Microscopy 



itself to such inequalities of surface. It cannot, therefore, 

 be too emphatically insisted that microscopists should 

 select this pattern in preference to any other. At first 

 sight this feature may appear to be a somewhat trivial 

 one, and especially so to a novice, yet minor details have 

 a marked significance in the satisfactory execution of his 

 work. It will be found advantageous to have a foot shod 

 with cork, as thereby the microscope is in a degree insulated 

 from vibration, and the risk of scratching the surface of 

 the table on which it is being used is avoided. It must be 

 clearly understood, however, that even this form of foot 

 must be made in correct proportion, or its advantages will 

 be annulled. 



Next to this foot in point of rigidity we would place the 

 Jackson model, as shown fitted to the instrument on pages 

 37 and 41. This, when properly made, though somewhat 

 heavier, is but little inferior to the tripod. 



Of variants from these two designs there are many, but 

 their rigidity can be tested by placing the instrument in 

 a horizontal position, racking the body out, and then 

 observing if there be a tendency to topple over ; if there 

 be, have nothing to do with it. 



We have purposely left the type of foot known as the 

 ' horseshoe ' to the last, because we consider it the least 

 advantageous of all. It has enjoyed and still commands 

 a distinct preference on the part of a very large section of 

 workers all over the world, and that section the one that 

 uses the microscope to a greater extent than all others 

 put together — we refer to medical students and medical 

 laboratories generally. It is to be remembered that a great 

 deal of work in laboratories is done with the instrument in 

 an upright position, in which circumstances the condenser 

 and mirrors are perhaps somewhat more easily manipu- 

 lated with a horseshoe foot and pillar than with the 

 tripod. 



It is claimed also for the horseshoe foot that it is more 

 compact, and that if it be unconsciously brought beyond 



