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STELLATE
OBJECTS FOR THE MICROSCOPE
by Brian Darnton & Wim van Egmond
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Scales of Deutzia scabra
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The glories of star shaped objects
are not only confined to the exponents of the telescope
in outer space. There are numerous objects that can rival
them in the inner space of our microscopic world. Amongst
the wealth of slides that survive from the Victorian era,
stellate objects are perhaps some of the most wondrous.
Their appeal is enhanced by the use of a dark background,
imparted by the polariscope, or by a dark ground stop in
the filter tray, or by the use of a spot lens directed
from above.
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NEXT STELLATE OBJECT
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| Deutzia scabra is a common
enough shrub in Northern Europe with delightful white
flowers in the summer. Star shaped scales protect both
the upper and the lower epidermis of the leaves. These
can be scraped off, desiccated and mounted in balsam, but
by far the best mounts are created by stripping off the
leaf epidermis, clearing it and mounting in Canada
balsam. In crossed polars these objects are truly bright
and splendid. |
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Comments to the authors Brian Darnton and Wim van Egmond
are welcomed.
More
pictures of microscopic subjects can be found on Wim's HOME PAGE and Brian's HOME PAGE
Microscopy UK Front Page
Micscape Magazine
Article Library
All photographs ©
Wim van Egmond
Published in the
December 2000 edition of Micscape Magazine.
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