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men, lens and eyepiece to the eye and is magnifi ed
en route (direct light principle, switch position II).
Some small water organisms, plant parts and animal
components are transparent by nature, but many
others require pretreatment — that is, you need to
make a thinnest possible slice of the object by hand
cutting or using a microtome, and then examine
this sample.
7.2. Creation of thin preparation cuts
Specimens should be sliced as thin as possible. A
little wax or paraffi n is needed to achieve the best
results. Put the wax into a heat-safe bowl and heat
it over a flame until the wax is melted. You can use a
candle fl ame to melt the wax.
Then, dip the specimen several times in the liquid
wax. Allow the wax that encases the specimen to
harden. Use a MicroCut (22) or other small knife or
scalpel to make very thin slices of the object in its
wax casing.
Place the slices on a glass slide and cover them with
another slide before attempting to view them with
the microscope.
7.3. Creation of your own preparation
Put the object to be observed on a glass slide and
cover the object with a drop of distilled water (No. 3)
using the pipette (No. 3, 20a).
Set a cover glass (available at a well-stocked hobby
shop) perpendicular to the edge of the water drop,
so that the water runs along the edge of the cover
glass (No. 4). Now lower now the cover glass slowly
over the water drop.
8. Experiments
Now that you’re familiar with your microscope’s
functions and how to prepare slides, you can com-
plete the following experiments and observe the
results under your microscope.
8.1. Newspaper print
Objects:
1. A small piece of paper from a newspaper with
parts of a picture and some letters
2. A similar piece of paper from an illustrated maga-
zine:
Use your microscope at the lowest magnifi cation
and make a slide preparation from each object.
Place the slide with the newspaper on the micro-
scope table and observe the slide. The letters in the
newspaper appear broken because the newspaper
is printed on raw, inferior paper. Now observe the
slide with the magazine preparation. Letters of the
magazine appear smoother and more complete. The
picture from the newspaper consists of many small
points, which appear somewhat dirty. The pixels (ras-
ter points) of the magazine image appear sharper.
8.2. Textile fibers
Objects and accessories:
1. Threads of different textiles: Cotton, linen, wool,
silk, Celanese, nylon and any others you can find.
2. Two needles:
Put each thread on a glass slide and fray each with
the help of the two needles. Put a drop of water over
each thread with the pipette and cover each with a
cover glass. Adjust the microscope to a low magnifi
cation. Cotton fi bres are of plant origin and look,
under the microscope, like a flat, twisted band. The
fi bres are thicker and rounder at the edges than in
the centre. Cotton fi bres consist primarily of long,
collapsed tubes. Linen fi bres are also of plant origin;
they are round and run in straight lines. The fi bres
shine like silk and exhibit numerous swellings along
the shaft of the fi bre. Silk is of animal origin and
consists of solid fibres of smaller diameter than the
hollow vegetable fi bres. Each silk fi bre is smooth
and even and has the appearance of a small glass
rod. Wool fi bres are also of animal origin; the surface
consists of overlapping scales, which appear broken
and wavy. If possible, compare wool fibres from dif-
ferent weaving mills, and note the differences in the
appearance of the fibres. Experts can determine the
country of origin of wool based on its appearance
under a microscope. Celanese is artifi cially manufac-
tured by a long chemical process. All Celanese fibres
show hard, dark lines on a smooth, shining surface.
