Read before American Pharmaceutical Association! 
Old Point Comlbrt, Va.,1800, 
SYNOPSIS OF A COURSE IN MICROSCOPY FOR PHARMACISTS. 
BY DR. H. M. WHELPLEY, F. R. M. S. 
The following synopsis is intended as a guide for a course of home study, 
and not such work as can be followed in a College of Pharmacy, where 
students receive individual instruction, and have the benefit of object 
lessons. The nature of a paper for this organization must confine it to 
limits which will prevent my giving an introduction to the subject. 
Unfortunately for the pharmaceutical profession, we have no works upon 
the subject of Microscopy which can be taken as text-books for home 
instruction. There is a rich supply of works on Microscopy as applied to 
medicine; several volumes have been written for the microscopist who 
works in Chemistry, and the number upon the use of the microscope in 
the study of Botany is not small; we even find works devoted to the 
application of Microscopy in Petrology, and I hope that it will be at no 
far distant day when the literature of Pharmacy is enriched by suitable 
•works upon Microscopy for the use of the druggist. 
In order to fully appreciate and take advantage of the Microscope 
as applied to Pharmacy, the druggist must be quite proficient in Botany 
and Pharmacognosy, in other words, he must have the advantage of home 
reading or a Pharmacy College training. At the present time all of the 
leading Colleges of Pharmacy in this country have departments devoted to 
instruction in microscopical work, but those who graduated a few years 
ago did not have the opportunity of such training. Many of those who 
graduate at present, overlook the value of Microscopy while they are 
students, and defer the study until they have left college and engaged in 
business. 
Although the educated pharmacist has quite an advantage over his less 
fortunate brother when he takes up the study of Microscopy, the same as 
he has in the daily pursuits of his vocation, still the druggist whose oppor- 
tunities for study have been very limited, can advantageously follow out a 
course of home study in Microscopy. The work with the microscope can 
be taken up in connection with Pharmacognosy, Chemistry and other 
studies which the home-educated pharmacist must pursue. 
One of the branches of an elementary education which is usually over- 
looked in our Colleges of Pharmacy is Physics. I find that the average 
student has received but a very meagre training in this branch during his 
school days. An understanding of the general principles of physics is of 
value to every individual, and especially so to the pharmacist. In order 
to intelligently work with the microscope and comprehend the principles 
upon which it is constructed, a person must be familiar with at least that 
branch of physics known as Optics. Therefore I recommend that every 
person taking up a course of study in microscopy shall first familiarize 
himself with optics. The chapter upon this subject given in the works on microscopy is scarcely sufficient for the purpose ; it is much better to study 
some work devoted to the subject of physics. Chapter VII in Norton’s 
Natural Philosophy is a very good course upon the subject. The chapter 
upon Optics in Steel’s Fourteen Weeks in Physics is also of value. 
After mastering the principles of Optics, it will be in place to take up 
the study of the microscope as an optical instrument. The student will 
soon learn that microscopes are divided into two great classes : Simple 
Microscope and Compound Microscope. 
It is best for the home student to confine his first work to that which 
can be accomplished with the simple instrument. It is advisable to pur- 
chase Manipulations of the Microscope by Bausch, which is a fifty-cent 
book ; also a volume entitled, How to Work with the Microscope, by Phin ; 
a new edition has just been issued, and sells for one dollar and twenty five 
cents per copy. Simple microscopes are not very expensive, so that a 
druggist can afford to purchase a good one with three separate lenses; 
they range in price from twenty-five cents to two dollars and fifty cents. 
After purchasing the instrument and reading what is said upon the sub- 
ject in the works just mentioned, the druggist is ready to commence prac- 
tical operations. It is not advisable to begin by studying drugs and ob- 
jects the structure of which is not familiar, but examine such things as 
the integument on the palm and back of the hand, the print of the news- 
paper, the web of cloth, and similar familiar objects. After the student 
has become familiar with the changed appearance of such objects when 
seen under the simple microscope, he can take up less familiar substances, 
such as seeds, leaves, roots, powders, crystals, etc. The hairs found upon 
many of the vegetable drugs are very interesting and instructive, as they 
serve as one means of identification of the substances. After considerable 
practice in this line of work, the student is ready to take up the alphabeti- 
cal list of substances in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. A simple microscope 
will enable him to observe the microscopical character of a large number 
of this list. The hairs on nearly all of the leaves are characteristic. The 
warts, wrinkles, ridges, hairs, scales, scars, etc., on branches, barks, rhi- 
zomes, roots and other parts of plants, often serve as a means of identifica- 
tion. Those drugs which consist of whole or parts of flowers are also suit- 
able for microscopical examinations. There are also some of the phar- 
maceutical preparations, such as mercurial ointment, mercury with chalk, 
etc., where the Pharmacopoeia directs the use of a microscope in testing 
their value. 
The student should not become too ambitious and anxious to handle 
the compound microscope before he is perfectly familiar with the use of 
the simple instrument. 
There are other uses in a drug store for the simple microscope than the 
examination of drugs; I may mention its convenience in making out the 
number of a prescription given upon a soiled label, and numerous other 
opportunities will present themselves to the observing pharmacist. 3 
When the pharmacist is ready to buy a compound microscope, it is ad- 
visable to purchase a good stand, if it can possibly be afforded. This will 
enable him to add accessaries in the future as time, inclination and 
financial condition may suggest or permit. The cheapest compound 
microscope which can be made of service in a drug store will cost about 
twenty-five dollars. The instrument known as the Library Microscope, 
manufactured by the Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., is supplied with one- 
fourth inch and one inch objectives, which give a magnifying power rang- 
ing from eighty to three hundred and seventy-five diameters; this micro- 
scope sells for twenty-five dollars, and is as cheap a one as I would advise 
any pharmacist to purchase. Fifty dollars will secure a very fair outfit, 
giving one-fifth and three-fourth inch objectives, which are the ones most 
generally used by the pharmacist. If the student can possibly afford it, it 
is better to invest about seventy dollars, and secure a good stand with one- 
fifth and three-fourth inch objectives. Such an instrument is sufficiently 
complete to admit of the use of almost any accessaries which a pharmacist 
will ever have occasion to use. As an example of a microscope for this 
price I will mention the Griffith Club Microscope, which is very conve- 
nient for the use of druggists. Unless a pharmacist feels inclined to be 
lavish in the investment, it is not necessary to purchase a microscope cost- 
ing more than from seventy-five to one hundred dollars. Of course the 
accessaries may amount to an equal sum, but it is not advisable to have 
too many of them, while learning to use the instrument. 
When commencifig work with the compound microscope, it is better to 
learn to manipulate the stand with eye piece and objectives before any 
accessaries are added. The books which were recommended for use in 
studying the simple microscope are still more serviceable and essential 
when it comes to manipulating the compound instrument. In addition it 
is advisable to read one or both of the microscopical journals published in 
this country : The Microscope of Trenton, N, J., and The American Micro- 
scopical Journal of Washington, D. C. The subscription price is one dol- 
lar per year, the same for each publication. The student will also naturally 
be interested in the departments devoted to microscopy in the various 
pharmaceutical journals. 
In commencing work with the compound microscope, it is best to follow 
the same plan as suggested for the simple microscope, and first study 
familiar objects. Among these suitable for the compound microscope we 
have the various fibres, such as wool, silk, cotton, and linen : every micro- 
scopist should be able to identify each one of these fibres. Small seeds, 
hairs, and even the dust which collects in a room, are suitable for study. 
When it comes to the study of less familiar objects, we have those men- 
tioned while referring to the simple microscope, and in addition to the list 
come various kinds of starch grains, powdered drugs, and other substances 
which require no section cutting in order to be examined. 4 
It is not advisable to attempt the preparation of permanent mounts for 
the microscope until the student becomes quite familiar with the examina- 
tion of objects. By this time another work will prove of service to the 
pharmacist, and that is The Practical Microscopist, by Davis, the price of 
which is two dollars and fifty cents. As an aid and guide in the study of 
powders, I call attention to articles by Hans Wilder, entitled “ Microscopi- 
cal Examination of Powders” {American Journal of Pharmacy, June ’90, 
page 278, July, ’90, page 332.) Another source of valuable information 
on the subject is Bulletin No. 13, issued by the Division of Chemistry of 
the Department of Agriculture of the government; parts I, II, III, IV, 
and V, are all of interest to pharmacists, but it is part II that treats of the 
examination of powders. The bulletin is entitled “Food and Food Adul- 
teration,” and can be obtained by addressing the Secretary of Agriculture. 
These publications by the Department of Agriculture are intended for the 
use of the citizens of this country, and I hope that the pharmacists will 
see that good use is made of them. 
If the student can afford the expense of a polariscope (which costs from 
twelve to twenty dollars, and can be used with the seventy-five dollar out- 
fit), it is advisable to purchase one when this stage in his study has been 
reached. The polariscope is especially serviceable in the examination of 
starch grains, crystals, and many other substances. 
The student is now ready to take up the work of mounting specimens 
for examination and preservation. It is best to commence with the pre- 
paration of dry mounts, such as are made with the use of paper covers. 
Then come dry mounts with the use of cements. I consider a turn-table 
essential to the outfit of any one who prepares permanent mounts; it not 
only enables him to make more elegant preparations, but saves time and 
trouble. After learning to prepare dry mounts, the use of balsam, both 
hard and soft, is next in order. Those who have access to the Companion 
to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia will find the chapter on the subject of Micro- 
scopy very instructive when they come to the use of balsam, glycerin jelly,, 
or glycero-gum, and other mounting media which require similar technic. 
The use of balsam should be studied before passing on to mounts made in 
liquids. The preparation of mounts in liquids is more difficult than in the 
foregoing media. Glycerin, carbolic acid and creosote water, castor oil 
and other liquids used in mounting, all require about the same work, and 
can be studied together. 
After gaining proficiency in mounting specimens, the student should 
take up the work of section-cutting. It is best to commence with free- 
hand work, such as cutting soft vegetable tissues imbedded in elder-pith. 
It is very convenient to be able to make such sections, and sometimes cir- 
cumstances are such that it is necessary to make them free-hand with a 
razor, or not at all. If the student does not practice this before he com- 
mences the use of the Microtome, he will never learn the art. An ordinary 5 
potato is a very good substance to practice upon for free-hand section- 
cutting. The first work of the Microtome should be on such substances as 
rhizomes of ginger, calamus, podophyllum, etc., which can be imbedded 
in Paraffin or similar imbedding substances. 
We next come to the section-cutting of hard vegetable tissues like 
Pareira Brava, which requires special soaking, but no imbedding. Cutting 
sections of fruit stones, coral, minerals, etc., are not in order. They re- 
quire the use of a saw and grindstone. 
The student is now ready for the more difficult task of sectioning ani- 
mal tissues and spongy vegetable substances, which are best imbedded in 
celloidine. I find that it is better for the student to learn to make sec- 
tions and carefully handle them, before he attempts to mount specimens 
which require sectioning. 
An artistic talent is not the good fortune of every one who studies mi- 
croscopy, but any one can learn to draw more or less correctly what he 
sees under the microscope. The practice teaches the student to closely 
observe what he sees. I advise the student to commence drawing at the 
first lesson. 
The use of the microscope in urinary analysis is work suitable for the 
pharmacist, but requires special instructions from teachers or books. 
It is the duty of every one who works with the microscope to start a 
cabinet of permanent mounts. Whenever the microscopist is mounting a 
substance, he should make several preparations, so that he can select the 
best one for his cabinet and exchange the less desirable ones with his 
brother microscopists. For use in examining drugs, it is well to have 
mounts of the true drugs and also of substitutions which are known to be 
used as adulterants. 
Pharmacists who have not already done so, should study the illustrations 
of the microscopic appearance of drugs as given in Maisch’s Organic 
Materia Medica and the Dispensatories, as well as other works on Pharma- 
cognosy, 
The pharmacist who has time and inclination will profit by work in 
photo-micrography. An article on this subject was presented to the 
Association last year by W. H. Krug and A. B, Stevens (A. P. A. Proceed- 
ings, ’89, page 84). 
Another duty which devolves upon the microscopist is to associate him- 
self with local organizations. This can be done in every case where there 
are two or more pharmacists working with the microscope. 
If space would permit, it would be interesting to dwell upon the large 
field for individual and original work which presents itself to the student 
who makes use of the microscope in Pharmacy. The pharmacist who 
accomplishes most with the microscope will be the one who sets apart a 
certain amount of time each day or week for the use of the instrument. 
There is an infatuation about the use of the microscope which sometimes 6 
leads the microscopist to devote more time to the subject at one sitting 
than can be afforded, so that the instrument must be set aside and neg- 
lected for some time to come. Therefore I advise every pharmacist who 
takes up the study of microscopy to lay out a schedule of work, and follow 
it as closely as circumstances will permit. 
In conclusion, I must state that system and order are of as much value 
to the microscopist as any workman. It is best to have a table, closet or 
box for the accessaries and reagents, so that they may be kept together. 
The microscope is very conveniently kept under a bell-glass, so that it is 
.always ready for use at a moment’s notice.