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 | | From: | KBob | | Subject: | Re: Can't find microbes in lake water | | Date: | Tue, 28 Dec 2004 16:47:58 GMT |
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 | On Fri, 06 Aug 2004 00:22:52 GMT, Repeating Rifle
wrote:
>in article 3b2eb022.0408051459.4b69f24@posting.google.com, Bob Alexander at
>realexander@akron.usa.com wrote on 8/5/04 3:59 PM:
>
>>> What brand and type of microscope are you using? How much experience
>>> have you had using this instrument? .What eyepieces and objectives are
>>> you using? How are you preparing your slides?
>>
>> The microscope is Edmund Scientific's "Beginner Microscope Kit" with a
>> fixed 10x eyepiece and 4x, 10x, and 40x objectives. I have not had
>> much experience (it is, after all, a beginner's scope). Slide
>> preparation is just getting a drop of water in an eyedropper, putting
>> it on the slide, and putting a cover slip on. I know enough to avoid
>> air bubbles. I'm not using any stains or filters.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Bob
>I have not fiddled with mikcroscopes in a serious way for a long time. I do
>not think that the (toy?) microscope is the problem. As a kid, I spent many
>hours with one looking at things.
>
>Try using a hanging drop. An easy way would be to take somed petroleum jell
>and smear a small coat onto both sides of a washer such as used on garden
>hoses. Put the washer on a slide. Put a small drop of your pond water on a
>cover slip, invert the slip, place the slip onto the washer so that the drop
>hangs in the space inside the washer.
>
>It would also help if you collected from a smelly oozy place rather than a
>nice clean lake.
>
>Bill
You can also find slides with central depressions that are intended to
contain droplets. These can make viewing a lot easier, especially
with low power. And always start with your lowest power, and vary the
angle of light also (if you can).
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