Hello and thank you

Lets get to know each other better. Here's a forum to post images and short autobiographies of ourselves as well as any other info you would like to post about yourself.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

dahyon
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2020 1:41 pm
Location: UK

Hello and thank you

Post by dahyon »

Hello

Over 40 years ago I used to use a Leitz Orthoplan in my day job.

At the end of most days I would look at one particular simple methylene blue stained smear of cow faeces using oil immersion it was always an immersive experience for me.

After many years not using a microscope I had stroke 6 years ago and I am still recovering.

I then bought an old Leitz Orthoplan DIC microscope on a whim with a view to looking a whatever I could find around my home. I had no desire to kill anything hence the DIC.

I would never have done this before the stroke.

Fortunately for me the quality of this microscope is still exceptional though my skills are limited.
I am attempting to make a video record of what I find.

I had been lurking here on this forum and found the link to the Sphagnum ponds of Simmelried.

Well this excited me a lot and has been a boost to get me going.

I am therefore writing this to thank the group collectively for constructing and contributing to this site and congratulate those whose wonderful work is so kindly shared.

Thank you to you all.

David

JSkory
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2021 9:10 am
Location: Wixom, Michigan USA
Contact:

Re: Hello and thank you

Post by JSkory »

Hi Danton,

Glad you joined and are embarking on a new or renewed journey.

JSkory
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2021 9:10 am
Location: Wixom, Michigan USA
Contact:

Re: Hello and thank you

Post by JSkory »

If you don’t mind my asking, what were you looking for in the cow faeces?

dahyon
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2020 1:41 pm
Location: UK

Re: Hello and thank you

Post by dahyon »

Hi
The staining of cow faeces was an exercise for me to learn a simple slide preparation technique.
Methylene blue stains everything and the aim was for me to be able to make a fresh smear mount.
At the time I was placed in a vet path lab as a student and part of the training was screening for many bacterial pathogens of animals.
This was the beginning of my appreciation of quality in microscopy.
For a number of years the lab had used the Zeil Neilson acid fast stain for detecting Johnes disease caused by a mycobacterium.
This microscopic method was used on a faecal smear but the organisms were very difficult to see due to the nature of the organism combined with the complexity of view.
A new microscope arrived in the lab and I started to find more and more Johnes positive samples.
This was a criticaly important to me for I had now realized the importance of excellent equipment.
The Orthoplan microscope was the pinnacle in quality to me.

David

JSkory
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2021 9:10 am
Location: Wixom, Michigan USA
Contact:

Re: Hello and thank you

Post by JSkory »

Very interesting. Thanks David.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic