228 Modern Microscopy 



from the dealer. To a new hand, the shilling cushion 

 strop will be quite good enough to practise on ; subsequently 

 a better strop may be obtained, and the first, although 

 probably damaged by cuts, will be useful for sharpening 

 scalpels. Opinions differ as to the best form of strop, but 

 we have a personal fancy for such as approximate to the 

 following description : A strip of wood about 13 inches long 

 and 1^ inches wide, with a neat handle, shaped at one end, 

 occupying about 4 inches of the length, the remainder 

 forming the base upon which the slightly convex stropping 

 surfaces are built (Pig. 56). Both the stropping surfaces 



S 



S 



Fig. 56. — Sectional View op Steop. 

 S, Stropping Surface ; B, Bedding Material ; "W, Wood. 



should be of the finest Eussia leather. One side is usually 

 charged with the stropping paste, the opposite surface being 

 left bare for finishing. Some strops have the finishing 

 side of buckskin. This we deem to be wrong for our special 

 purpose, as the velvety buff is apt to impart a rounded edge 

 to the razor. The longer the strop has been in service, the 

 better will be the results obtained, provided that its surfaces 

 have not been hacked. An old friend will have its surfaces 

 hard, smooth, and glistening ; care should be taken to keep 

 it so. The stropping paste should be applied very sparingly 

 at remote periods and with great care. Black paste should 

 be avoided, as it generally contains emery powder ; the red 

 paste is usually of iron oxide. Good paste can be made by 

 thoroughly mixing the finest jeweller's rouge with the 

 smallest quantity of tallow. Never lay the strop down 

 with either surface in contact with the bench. Avoid belt 

 strops, as the result in inexperienced hands is a rounded 

 razor edge. Holding our ideal strop in the left hand, lay 

 the razor flat and diagonally across the prepared surface. 



