Synopses & Reviews
A world of pleasure, excitement and new knowledge awaits one who learns to use the microscope — a world in which table salt crystals appear as jewels, a drop of water swarms with life, a butterfly's wings reveal a cascade of multicolored particles. This book is for anyone who would like to enter that world, whether or not he has ever used a microscope before. No special knowledge is required. In non-technical language and with generous use of illustration, the author explains how a microscope works and what kind to use; how to adjust the instrument and position the specimens to be viewed; examination of simple objects: a human hair, feathers, milk. At the same time, he shows how to prepare the objects, what to purchase for the purpose, how to care for it; one's every question is anticipated and clearly answered. The fundamentals understood, the reader is taken into further exploration viewing insect parts, diatoms, plankton, molds, leaves, ferns, fruit rinds, fish scales, animal parts. As we proceed, we learn step by step the techniques involved: use of chloroform, preparation of permanent slides, mounting in glycerine, preparing dye solutions, dissection, and blood smearing. We learn how to detect fat, find Vitamin C in food substances, prepare a frog for examination, view and distinguish bacteria, use the oil-immersion objective, dye bacilli spores, do microphotography, cut sections with the microtome.
Following Dr. Stehli's careful instructions, we have entered and gone well into the fascinating world of microscopy. The invention of the microscope itself started science on new courses, entire fields of new knowledge. The use of a comparatively simple microscope today can start one on a lifetime interest, an absorbing hobby, a career in science, or a permanent addition to one's cultural background. This book provides all the help needed, whether one is adult or student, hobbyist or scientifically serious, seeking education or merely curious about the minute world that exists all about us. 119 photographs and drawings.
Synopsis
Nontechnical, generously illustrated explanation of how microscope works, what kind to use, how to prepare and examine specimens, maintenance, etc. Index.
Synopsis
In nontechnical language and with 119 photographs and drawings, the author clearly explains how a microscope works and what kind to use; preparation and examination of specimens, and much more.
Table of Contents
FOREWARD
1. THE MICROSCOPE AND ESSENTIAL TOOLS
How a Microscope Is Constructed
Preparation and Auxiliary Tools
"Cleaning of Coverslips, Slides and Lenses"
Care of Other Tools Used in Microscopy
2. HOW TO USE THE MICROSCOPE
Adjusting the Prepared Object
How to Get the Best Lighting
Examining and Positioning Preparations
Changing Objectives
Learining to See with One Eye
"Seeing "Flies"
Drawing Microscopic Objects
Fifteen Working Rules for Beginners
3. EXAMINING SIMPLE PREPARTIONS
Table-Salt Crystals
Air Bubbles
Potato Starch
Onion Skin Plasmolysis
Cotton
Nettle Hairs
Canadian Waterweed
Spurge
Cells from Inside the Human Cheek
Milk
Blood
Sperm Cells
Human Hair
Feathers
Cleaning of Slides and Coverslips
4. INSECT PREPARATIONS
Killing with Chloroform
Butterfly Scales
Butterfly Wings
Mouth of June Bug
Eyes of the June Bug
Sting of the Honey Bee
Legs of the Honey Bee
Gizzard of a Cockroach
"Fleas, Bedbugs, Lice and Gnats"
Mites
Storage of Permanent Preparations
5. EXPLORING A DROP OF WATER
Diatoms
Diatom Preparations
Spiorogyra
Mounting in Glycerin or Glycerin Jelly
Water Fleas
Microaquaria and Hay Infusions
Paramecium
Rotifers
Euglena
Amoebae
Fresh-Water Polyp
Preparing Dye Solution
6. THE STRUCTURE OF PLANTS
Moulds
Moss Leaves
Male Fern
Sectioning with a Razor
Care of the Razor
Cornstalks
Cleaning Preparations
Iris Leaf
Orange and Lemon Peel
Nucleus Divisions and Giant Chromosomes
Storage of Fixed Plant Materials
Handling Fresh Sections
Detection of Fat
Detection of Vitamin C
7. THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS
Snail Tongues
Liver Flukes
Fish Scales
Fish Blood
Dissection of a Frog
Frog Blood
Ciliated Epithelium of the Frog's Mouth
Striated Muscles
Smooth Muscle Fibers
Columnar Epithelial Cells
Nerve Fibers
Intestinal Infusoria of a Frog
Cartilage
Bone
Bone Section
Pork Liver
Liver Clamps
8. BACTERIA
Dyeing Bacteria
Use of the Oil-Immersion Objective
Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria
Sulphur Bacteria
Dyeing Bacilli Spores
9. MICROPHOTOGRAPHY
Lighting
Apparatus for Microphotography
Light Filters and Lighting
APPENDIX - MICROTOME TECHNIQUE
Fixing
Dehydration and Paraffin Infiltration
Embedding in Paraffin
Mounting and Trimming the Block
Embedding in Celloidin
The Microtome
Cutting with the Microtome
Subsequent Handling of the Sections
INDEX