Microscopy
adventures in a public park - Jean-Marie Cavanihac (France) shares
a delightful illustrated article on the pleasures of pond dipping when
unplanned sampling opportunities arise.
Image
gallery: Botanical drawing II - Christina Brodie (UK), presents some
of her stunning coloured macro drawings showing flowers from members of
the daisy family.
Safe
microscopic techniques for amateurs. I: Mounting microscopic subjects
- Part 2: Soldifying media. In the second article in this series,
Walter Dioni (Mexico) reviews the merits of and protocols for using sucrose,
fructose, glucose with/without gum arabic as slide mountants.
Foliculina
- a marine ciliate - Wim van Egmond (The Netherlands) describes and
illustrates this fascinating ciliate which can be found attached to substrates.
The
tunicate Styela: A community housing project - In Richard Howey's
(USA) essay this month he shares fascinating aspects of one of the tunicates
or sea squirts.
Macro
photography using a short tube microscope - Gordon Couger (USA) shows
how a short tube microscope fitted with low power objectives and with digital
camera attached can make a useful field microscope.
Adding
X-Y stage coordinates to microscopes - Some bolt-on mechanical stages
don't have verniers on the X-Y axes. Ian Walker (UK) shows a simple way
to make verniers good enough for normal use, using his inkjet printer and
a stage for the Zeiss Standard as an example.
Circular
oblique lighting. Part 2 - Paul James (UK) shares further studies of
this interesting form of illumination and gives simple techniques for creating
it.
Image
gallery: Monochrome days - Ian Walker (UK) presents some attractive
images taken in the north of England countryside in Winter; a time of year
when monochrome digital photos can work particularly well.
Enjoying
old slides - Dave Walker (UK) describes and illustrates some interesting
old slides that he has enjoyed viewing and learning more about recently.