Chapter VIII: Part II (2)

While it is not necessary that the back of the knife and the cutting edge should be parallel to each other, it is absolutely necessary that they be in the same plane, or, as mechanics say,—“out of wind.” If this condition be not observed, the blade will rock on the microtome table as it passes over it, and irregularity in thickness of section will result.

A slight knowledge of geometry will enable any one to see that these statements are strictly accurate.

As regards other points in the form of the knife, we refer to what has been previously said when discussing the general principles which should govern the construction of cutting tools.

We now proceed to give a few practical directions for sharpening knives and razors and keeping them in order.

Section knives, during the process of sharpening, are subjected to three distinct processes: 1, Grinding; 2, Honing; 3, Stropping.

Grinding is one of the most important, though it is probable that it will rarely be undertaken by the microscopist himself. More knives and razors are spoiled in grinding than in any other way. We have now in our possession an excellent knife, which in an evil hour we entrusted to a New York cutler, and received it back utterly ruined, the temper being entirely taken out of the blades! Some of our readers may wonder at this, but unfortunately it is too true. The cutler, to save time and trouble, too frequently holds the blade against the stone with such force that it becomes over-heated, especially when he is a little careless and allows the supply of water to fall short.[20] The owner does not find this out until he discovers that the knife is ruined, because nothing is more easy than to cool the blade and grind off the tell-tale blue spots. When charged with his rascality, the cutler always denies it and lays the blame on a “soft spot in the steel”—a miserable subterfuge—too transparent to deceive the least experienced.

Footnote 20:

Nothing is more easy than to heat a thin rod or stout wire red hot by
holding it against a dry grindstone rapidly revolving. We have often
kindled fire in this way.

The only protection against this is either to entrust the knife to a man of known carefulness and integrity, or to stand over him while he does it. If the knife be ground under the owner’s eye, no fear need be entertained, because it is easy to insist upon the use of plenty of water.

The grindstone used for section knives should be of fine grain, and it should run true and be very straight across the face, otherwise it will be impossible to grind the knife true, and this, as we have seen, is a necessity.

Every microscopist that expects to do much at cutting sections must learn to hone his own knife or razor. Of the various hones in use the famous Turkey oilstone is said to be altogether the best. It is, however, very difficult to get it genuine and in sufficiently large pieces. We therefore use the German hone-slate, a softer, yellow stone of wonderful fineness and cutting power. The ordinary whetstones are altogether too coarse, and as for artificial stones and strops, they may do for coarse work and common razors for _scraping_, but they will not do for knives used for section-cutting. If any of our readers should be so fortunate as to possess a good, old-fashioned Turkey oilstone with a fair sized surface, let them think much of it. It is invaluable. Years ago, when working on some investigations that required the use of very sharp knives, we were offered, by an old English carpenter, the use of a real Turkey stone. We have never since found anything that did its work so quickly and so well.

To merely mention the substitutes for Turkey oilstone would fill some pages. We therefore confine ourselves to the German hone. It is obtained from the slate mountains in the neighborhood of Ratisbon, where it occurs in the form of a yellow vein running vertically into the blue slate, sometimes not more than an inch in thickness, and varying to twelve to eighteen inches. After being quarried it is sawed into thin slabs, which are usually cemented to a similar slab of the blue slate as a support, and the combined stones are then set in a wooden frame and fitted with a cover, also of wood. Unlike the Turkey oilstone, the Arkansas stone, and some others, the German hone is soft and easily scratched and worn. It must therefore be carefully preserved, and as the _flatness_ of the hone is an important point, it should never be used for anything but section knives.

Having purchased a hone, the first thing to do is to see that it is perfectly true; that is, that its surface is a perfect plane. If hollow or twisted, it is useless until made straight. It may be tested by means of two steel or wood straight-edges, and the method of doing this, which is very simple but difficult to describe, the microscopist can learn from any cabinet maker or carpenter. If the hone be not true it must be made so, and this is best done by grinding it with emery on a slab of marble or, better still, a plate of cast iron which has been planed true. (Waste castings with planed surfaces may be found in most machine shops, and may be either borrowed or purchased for a small sum.) If the hone is very uneven, coarse emery may be used at first; then finer must be taken, and so on until the surface of the hone is not only true but very smooth. This involves considerable labor, but it cannot be avoided if a _true_ edge as well as a sharp one is desired, and hence our advice to use the hone for nothing but section knives. Accuracy in a penknife or a razor for shaving is of no consequence; in a section-knife it is a _sine qua non_.

The surface of the hone must not only be true and smooth, it must also be clean and free from dust and grit, a single particle of which may spoil the work of hours. It should therefore, when not in use, be kept constantly covered. It is always used with oil, and this oil should be of a kind that does not readily dry up. Good sperm is excellent, and so is purified neat’s-foot oil. Avoid kerosene, soap and water, and similar fluids, which are so frequently recommended, especially under the guise of new discoveries. They have all been tried and found wanting. After use, the stone should be carefully wiped clean, fresh oil being applied when it is next used. It must never be used without a liberal supply of oil, otherwise it will become glazed and will no longer act on the steel.

The hone being in good order, the blade is laid flat on it and moved over its surface with circular sweeps. The method of doing this is easily acquired, and is best learned by watching an expert cutler at work. If we could only hit it, the perfection of this operation would be to wear down the sides of the blade until they just met; they would then form a keen and perfect edge. Unfortunately we cannot always hit this point exactly; we are apt to overdo the matter just a little, and then comes up the _bête noir_ of beginners—the “wire edge.” This is caused by the metal of the blade bending away from the hone as soon as it becomes of a certain degree of thinness. Once it does this it cannot be worn off by the hone, and the only way to remove it is to draw the edge of the knife or razor across a piece of horn or hard wood. After removing the wire edge in this way, give the blade one or two sweeps on the hone and then strop it. If the blade be very soft, the wire edge comes very quickly and easily, and is very hard to get rid of. On very hard blades the wire edge is not so apt to make its appearance. It comes, however, on very excellent blades. It may be avoided in a measure by driving the blade edge-first over the hone, and indeed the blade should always be sharpened most in this way. And since the backward and forward strokes are always nearly equal, as regards space passed over, this is accomplished by exerting a greater pressure on the forward than on the backward stroke.

This wire edge is a nasty thing when it breaks off on the hone. Unless removed it will very speedily ruin a fine knife, therefore look out for it and wipe off the hone carefully if you have any suspicion that particles of steel have broken off the blade and got on to it.

In honing, as in everything else, however, nothing but practice will impart skill, and he who intends to become an expert should practice on a few old razors, grinding, honing and stropping them himself, until he has acquired the art of giving them an edge far keener than most of the razors ordinarily used for shaving.

The last operation to which the knife is subjected is that of stropping, and as the blade should be stropped after every section, it becomes important that our tools should be good and that we should know how to use them. By having two or three knives we can always avoid grinding and honing the blades ourselves, for it is then easy to hire the work done, and half a dozen knives will last a careful worker a long time with merely the aid of a good strop. But the strop he must use himself. Fortunately no great skill is required in stropping, but the strop must be a good one and is best home-made.

Our readers have doubtless seen the “Cheap John” strop-vendors take a rough table knife, strop it on one of their “patent” strops and cut a hair with it. Nevertheless such a knife, sharpened in that way, would not cut good sections, and such a strop is not just the thing for giving the finishing touch to a section-knife, even though the label does say that it is “intended for surgical instruments.”[21]

Footnote 21:

The finest emery paper, glued on a strip of wood and used as a strop,
will impart to a razor an edge sufficiently keen to enable it to
remove the beard, and if paper three or four degrees coarser be used,
a very dull knife or razor may be sharpened, and afterwards stropped
on the finer emery until it is keen enough to cut a hair. But it will
be found that cutting edges produced in this way are not smooth enough
for section-cutting.

The strop should never be used with the intention of removing metal so as to thin the edge of the knife. This is the proper function of the hone, and those who depend most on the hone and least on the strop, will always succeed best. The strop is used in the first place for _smoothing_ off the edge, and in the second for removing that incipient dullness which always comes from even the slightest use. It is true that in the latter case the strop trespasses somewhat on the functions of the hone, but only to a very slight extent, and stropping should never be carried so far as to require more than a very few strokes.

The best material for a strop is good calf-skin, well tanned, and firmly glued to a strip of wood with the hair side out. The leather should be hard, otherwise it will rapidly round the edge of the knife. The way in which this occurs is readily understood from figures 11 and 12. In Fig. 12 the leather is seen to rise up behind the edge of the blade as the latter passes over it, so that instead of two plane facets meeting at an angle of from 15° to 20° as left from the hone, (Fig. 12) the edge has become considerably rounded and the ultimate angle of the cutting edge is nearly or quite doubled. The hardest and firmest leather should therefore be chosen, avoiding of course any leather that has been made hard and unpliable by the action of water or other agents. Two sides will be found enough for a strop. On one the leather should be kept clean, while the other should be thoroughly impregnated with fine grained, but very hard rouge or crocus.[22] Rouge is an artificial oxide of iron prepared by exposing sulphate of iron to heat. The hardness of the resulting powder depends upon the temperature to which it has been exposed, and this temperature is very well indicated by the color which the rouge assumes. Bright red or crimson rouge is soft and will not cut steel; hard rouge, suitable for polishing steel, is purple in color, and this quality should therefore be chosen. Great care should be taken to see that it is free from gritty particles, and it should be well rubbed into the leather in a dry state. All mixtures of grease and oil with abrasive substances should be eschewed. If the leather be of good texture and the rouge hard and fine, a very few strokes will suffice to impart the last degree of smoothness and keenness to the blade.

Footnote 22:

Rouge may be purchased from dealers in watch-makers’ tools. Those who
cannot procure it readily may very easily prepare it for themselves.
Full directions may be found in the “Amateur’s Handbook.” New York:
Industrial Publication Company.

Since grit and dust would soon spoil the strop, it should be kept carefully covered and protected. The rouge will require occasional renewing, which may be done by sprinkling a little lightly over the surface and rubbing it in with the finger. Consequently we find that the best and most convenient holder for rouge is a bottle with some fine but porous fabric tied over the mouth of it, forming as it were a sort of dredge. Over the bottle mouth and its cover should be tied a paper cap to keep out dust.

We have thus endeavored to give, in as simple a manner as possible, such information as will guide the microscopist to the acquisition of skill in this most important but generally despised department of his art. We are told by the biographer of Swammerdam that a great deal of his success was to be attributed to his skill in sharpening his fine knives and scissors. The same is also stated of other noted workers, and yet none give even the slightest directions to the novice who desires to follow in their footsteps. There is not to our knowledge a single book in the English language which treats fully of this subject, with perhaps the exception of Holtzapffel’s work on “Mechanical Manipulation,” and this has long been out of print. As previously stated, however, it is only by practice that the necessary finger-skill can be acquired, but this skill is well worth acquiring at any cost. The man who depends upon cutlers and knife grinders will never make satisfactory progress.

NOTE H.

We are inclined to believe that the difficulty of enclosing glycerine does not arise from the dissolving action of this liquid, so much as from the great adhesiveness which exists between it and glass. Oily cements are of course attacked by glycerine, but shellac and several other gums are insoluble, and drying oils, if well oxidized are also insoluble. Where cells are used they must be first firmly attached to the clean slide, and the cement should also be brought into direct contact with the clean cover. Glycerine does not evaporate at ordinary temperatures, and consequently wherever the slide or cover is soiled with it, no cement will ever adhere until the glycerine has been wiped off. There is no prospect of its drying.

NOTE I. Page 48.

The solution here referred to, and which is known as Kleinenberg’s solution, is made in the following way:

(1.) Make a saturated solution of crystallized calcium chloride in 70 per cent. alcohol, and add alum to saturation. (2.) Make also a saturated solution of alum in 70 per cent. alcohol. Add (1) to (2) in the proportion of 1:8. To the mixture add a few drops of a saturated solution of hæmatoxylin in absolute alcohol.

This solution may be used in very many cases for staining sections, in place of the ordinary watery solution of logwood alum. It may, if required, be diluted with the mixture of 1 and 2. The stained sections are placed at once in strong spirit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

INDEX.

Acetic acid, 38 Adipose tissue, 63 Æther microtome, 24 Air-bubbles, 40, 55, 62 Alcohol, 17, 19 absolute, 54

Balsam, Canada, 46, 51 to clean from slide, 55 Beale’s carmine fluid, 33 Bell’s cement, 41 Blue staining fluid, 60 Bone, 16, 57 decalcified, 58 Bottles for media, &c., 48 Brain, 59 Brunswick black, 41

Capillary attraction, 55 Carmine staining, 32 Carpenter, Dr., 37, 41 Cartilage, 60 Cells, to make, 59 Centring slide, 38 Chloroform-balsam, 51, 54 Chromic acid, 17 Clove oil, 51, 54 Coffee berry, 62 Cover, applying, 37 German plan, 39 Crochet-needle holders, 39

Double staining, 73 Dry mounting, 58, 65, 72

Fat, 63 Finishing slide, 54 Fibro-cartilage, 62 Freezing method, 42-47 Fresh tissues, to cut, 15-17 Fruit stones, 58

Gardner, Mr., 25, 31 Gelatine cement, 41 Glycerine, 37, 38 Gold staining, 58 Gum, imbedding in, 22, 66 strong, 43 weak, 31, 71

Hair, 63-69 Hæmatoxylon, _see_ Logwood Hand-sections, 19 Hardening agents, 19 Hoggan, F. Elizabeth, Dr., 61 Hone, 26, 57 Horn, hoofs, &c., 16, 64 Hyaline cartilage, 62

Ice, for freezing, 43 Injections, to harden, 19 Ink staining, 70 Intestine, 42, 43, 64 Iron staining, 61

Kay, J. A., Mr., 52 Kidney, 17 Klein’s _lifter_, 35 Knife, section, 25, 30

Leaves, &c., to cut, 12 Ligaments, intervertebral, 62 Lime, carbonate of, 37 Liver, 65 Logwood staining, 47 Lung, 43, 65

Martindale’s logwood fluid, 47 Media, mounting, 38 Methylated spirit, _see_ Alcohol Microtome, 21 choice of, 22 Microtome, employment of, 29 freezing, 43, 44 imperfection in, 23, 46 Rutherford’s, 31 Muscle, 66

Needles, microscopical, 39

Orange-peel, 67 Ovary, 67

Papillæ of finger, 69 Paraffine, adhering to sections, 27 imbedding in, 20, 26 mixture, 26 _rising_ in tube, 23 shrinks in cooling, 29 Paul, Dr., 70 Pathological specimens, 19, 62 Picro-carmine, 59, 68, 72 Porcupine quill, 67 Potato, 67 Preparation of animal tissues, 16 vegetable tissues, 15 Prussian blue pigment, 38

Rangoon oil, 14, 47 Razors, 20, 26, 29, 30 Rush, 78 Rutherford’s microtome, 24, 31 “Practical Histology,” 43

Salicylic acid, 44 Salt, for freezing, 45 Schäfer’s “lifter,” 35 “Practical Histology,” 48 Scissors, section, 13 Sebaceous glands, 69 Section-cutter, _see_ Microtome Section-knife, 24 Sections, thickness of, 31 to dehydrate, 52 to transfer, 33 Seeds, 63 Skin, 68 Sperm oil, 44 Spinal cord, 69 Spirit lamp for balsam, 53 weak, 36, 59 Sponge, 71 Spoon, section, 35, 54 Staining agents, 31 Strop, razor, 26, 29 Stomach, 71 Sudoriferous glands, 69

Taste-bulbs, 71 Teeth, 16, 58 Tongue, 71 Tubes, collapsible, 56

Valentin’s knife, 14 Vegetable ivory, 72 tissues, to prepare, 12 Vessels, porcelain, 33

Water-bath, cheap, 29 Whalebone, 64 White zinc cement, 56 Wood, 72

------------------------------------------------------------------------

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This is a small book, but full of matter. * * * We think this book is full of interest and value; and as the discussions concerning the harmony of science and faith are rife at the present day, we commend the reasonings of Mr. Phin to the great number of readers and students who are investigating these subjects.—_The Presbyterian_ (Philadelphia).

The author gives a new solution of this difficult question, and certainly presents many very plausible arguments in support of his theory.—_Sunday-School Workman._

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The book, although not large, will prove exceedingly interesting to all who have ever directed attention to this matter, and contains more solid and suggestive thought than many voluminous treatises on the subject.—_Insurance Monitor._

The work is ingenious and original, and presents many striking suggestions.—_American Baptist._

We believe Prof. Phin has started upon the correct basis, and his theory is mainly tenable. His views are presented in a manner which, though terse, is easily comprehended.—_Daily Guardian_ (Paterson, N. J.)

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THE YOUNG SCIENTIST,

A Practical Journal for Amateurs.

=ISSUED MONTHLY. Price 50 Cents per year.=

It is characteristic of young Americans that they want to be DOING something. They are not content with merely _knowing_ how things are done, or even with _seeing_ them done; they want to do them themselves. In other words, they want to experiment. Hence the wonderful demand that has sprung up for small tool chests, turning lathes, scroll saws, wood carving tools, telegraphs, model steam engines, microscopes and all kinds of apparatus. In nine cases out of ten, however, the young workman finds it difficult to learn how to use his tools or apparatus after he has got them. It is true that we have a large number of very excellent text-books, but these are not just the thing. What is wanted is a living teacher. Where a living teacher cannot be found, the next best thing is a live journal, and this we propose to furnish. And in attempting this, it is not our intention to confine ourselves to mere practical directions. In these days of knowledge and scientific culture, the “Why” becomes as necessary as the “How.” The object of the YOUNG SCIENTIST is to give clear and easily followed directions for performing chemical, mechanical and other operations, as well as simple and accurate explanations of the principles involved in the various mechanical and chemical processes which we shall undertake to describe.

The scope and character of the journal will be better understood from an inspection of a few numbers, or from the list of contents found on a subsequent page, than from any labored description. There are, however, three features to which we would call special attention:

CORRESPONDENCE.—In this department we intend to place our readers in communication with each other, and in this way we hope to secure for every one just such aid as may be required for any special work on hand.

EXCHANGES.—An exchange column, like that which has been such a marked success in the _Journal of Microscopy_, will be opened in the Young Scientist. Yearly subscribers who may wish to _exchange_ tools, apparatus, books, or the products of their skill, can state what they have to offer and what they want, _without charge_. Buying and selling must, of course, be carried on in the advertising columns.

ILLUSTRATIONS.—The journal will make no claims to the character of a “picture book,” but wherever engravings are needed to make the descriptions clear they will be furnished. Some of the engravings which have already appeared in our pages are as fine as anything to be found in the most expensive journals.

Special Notice.

As our journal is too small and too low-priced to claim the attention of news dealers, we are compelled to rely almost wholly upon subscriptions sent directly to this office. As many persons would no doubt like to examine a few numbers before becoming regular subscribers, we will send four current numbers as a trial trip for

FIFTEEN CENTS.

--------------

CLUBS.

Where three or more subscribe together for the journal, we offer the following liberal terms:

3 copies for $1.25
5 〃 〃 2.00
7 〃 〃 2.75
10 〃 〃 3.50

Advertisements, 30 cents per line.

As postal currency has nearly disappeared from circulation, we receive postage stamps of the lower denominations (ones, twos and threes) at their full value. Postal orders are, however, much safer and more convenient. To avoid delay and mistakes address all communications to “THE YOUNG SCIENTIST, Box 4875, New York,” and make all checks and orders payable to John Phin.

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=WHAT PEOPLE SAY OF US.=

In a letter to the Editor, Oliver Wendell Holmes, the genial “Autocrat of the Breakfast Table,” says: “I am much pleased with the YOUNG SCIENTIST. It makes me want to be a boy again.”

“It is a little publication, calculated to call out and educate all the latent ingenuity and thirst for knowledge which the youthful mind possesses, and we hope it will win its way into every household in the land.”—[Scientific Press.

“We have never seen a periodical, designed for youth, which came nearer to our ideal of what such a journal should be.”—[Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal.

“The YOUNG SCIENTIST is one of the choicest publications for juvenile minds in this country. Every page treats on subjects of importance to young and old, portrayed in a clearly comprehensive manner, which at once interests the young idea in its careful perusal.”—[Lapeer Clarion.

“It seems to fill the bill.”—[Newport Daily News.

“It is pleasing to note that its youthful subscribers will not be misled by clap-trap advertisements or advertisements of patent medicines, which will not be received at any price. The YOUNG SCIENTIST is doing good work in setting its face against this class of humbugs.”—[Manufacturing and Trade Review.

“The work is a copiously illustrated monthly, and is full of practical hints that will instruct and amuse the young folks.”—[Industrial School Advocate.

“A small but elegant and very instructive monthly.”—[Pittsburg Chronicle.

“Contains the best possible reading for the young of both sexes.”—[Ottawa Journal.

“We can safely recommend this magazine as one of the very best publications for the young folks.”—[The Independent, Fenton, Mich.

“This journal occupies a new field, and is needed to put the minds of our youth on the right track to secure a correct understanding of the nature of things.”—[Wayland Press.

“It is ably edited by John Phin, who will make a large place in the heart of the rising generation, if he persists in his venture. We hope his success in the field will be equal to the article furnished—first best.”—[Sunset Chimes.

“The articles are written in a popular, readable style, and profusely illustrated.”—Akron City Times.

“The YOUNG SCIENTIST is excellent in conception, and well designed to amuse and instruct young people.”—[Chicago Evening Journal.

“The YOUNG SCIENTIST is a handsome monthly magazine, each number containing about 16 pages, handsomely illustrated. It will supply a place which has been heretofore unoccupied. The copy before us comes fully up to the promise of the prospectus.”—[The Times, Iroquois, Mich.

“It is a journal which should be in the hands of both young and old, and is a great benefit to the young scientist as well as the advanced professor. It is a thousand times more valuable than the dime novel series, so much read by boys. Parents would do well to have it in their households.”—[The Iron Home.

“This publication is a new launch, and it is very gratifying to witness the ableness which pervades its pages.”—Amherst Free Press.

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THE AMERICAN

JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY,

AND

_POPULAR SCIENCE_.

--------------

PROSPECTUS.

The object of the JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY is to diffuse a knowledge of the best methods of using the Microscope; of all valuable improvements in the instrument and its accessories; of all new methods of microscopical investigation, and of the most recent results of microscopical research. The JOURNAL does not address itself to those who have long pursued certain special lines of research, and whose wants can be supplied only by elaborate papers, which, from their thoroughness, are entitled to be called monographs rather than mere articles. It is intended rather to meet the wants of those who use the microscope for purposes of general study, medical work, class instruction, and even amusement, and who desire, in addition to the information afforded by text-books, such a knowledge of what others are doing as can be derived only from a periodical. With this object in view, therefore, the publishers propose to make the JOURNAL so simple, practical and trustworthy, that it will prove to the advantage of every one who uses the microscope at all to take it.

ILLUSTRATIONS.—The JOURNAL will be freely illustrated by engravings representing either objects of natural history or apparatus connected with the microscope.

TRANSACTIONS OF SOCIETIES.—THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY is not the organ of any Society, but it gives the proceedings of all Societies whose officers send us a report. As the JOURNAL is devoted _wholly_ to Microscopy, and is in good form and size for binding, no better medium can be had for preserving the scientific records of any society. Matters of mere business routine we are frequently obliged to omit for want of room.

EXCHANGES.—An important feature of the JOURNAL is the exchange column, by means of which workers in different parts of the country are enabled, without expense, except for postage, to exchange slides and materials with each other.

=TERMS.=

During the first two years of its existence, the subscription to the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY was only fifty cents per year, but at the request of more than two-thirds of the subscribers, the size of the JOURNAL has been doubled, and the price raised to

=ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR.=

Four copies for three dollars. Those who wish to economize in the direction of periodicals, would do well to examine our clubbing list.

FOREIGN SUBSCRIBERS.—The JOURNAL will be sent, postage paid, to any country in the Postal Union for $1.24, or 5 shillings sterling per year. English postage stamps, American currency or American postage stamps taken in payment. In return for a postal order or draft for £1 5s., five copies of the JOURNAL will be furnished and mailed to different addresses. Make all drafts and postal orders payable to John Phin.

BACK VOLUMES.—We have on hand a few copies of Vols. I and II, bound in handsome cloth cases, which we offer for $1 25 each. Vols. I and II, bound, and the numbers of Vol. III, as issued, we offer for $2.50. We can no longer supply complete sets of 1876-7 in sheets. To those who wish to examine the journal, we will send ten odd numbers for 25 cents.

=Advertisements.=

The JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY, from its very nature, is a visitor to the very best families, and its value as an advertising medium has therefore proved to be much above that of average periodicals. A few select advertisements will be inserted at the rate of 30 cents per line, nonpariel measure, of which twelve lines make an inch. Address

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY,
P. O. Box 4875, New York.

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● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling was made consistent when a predominant form
was found in this book; otherwise it was not changed.
○ Forms of the name Schäfer were regularized to match the title page
of his “A Course of Practical Histology.”
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);
text that was bold by “equal” signs (=bold=).