INTRODUCTION. 
I I 
the man who merely wishes to follow a pleasant hobby 
may provide himself with apparatus less pretentious, 
and may take his pleasure less au serieux. 
At the outset it may be stated that this book is 
intended for those who are in earnest, and aim at pro¬ 
ducing really good work, such as will bear comparison 
with any of the present day; and for this end two 
things are necessary—first, thoroughly good apparatus; 
second, careful study and pretty constant practice. 
The very finest appliances obtainable are not, after all, 
so very expensive, and in any case are in the end the 
cheapest ; and intermittent enthusiasms will not con¬ 
duce to equable results. 
It is of great importance to have suitable apartments 
wherein to carry out the operations; and it will be 
well to provide separate rooms for the microscopic and 
photo-chemical parts of the work. Neither of these 
apartments needs to be large; and if we had only at 
disposal one medium-sized room we should put a par¬ 
tition so as to divide the room into two. Of course, 
the nearer the two rooms are to each other, the better ; 
but the dampness usually found in the developing room 
would not be favourable to the microscopical apparatus. 
Again, a supply of running water, and a sink for waste, 
are of such import to the comfort, and even success, of 
the operator that we would make considerable sacrifice 
of other points to have these. As we deal with small 
plates only, a large sink is not required ; a suitable 
one can be had of any dealer in photographic goods. 
Earthenware is usually recommended, but we prefer a 
