As we all know microscope slides are made of plastic or glass and they are around 1×3 inches and thickness falls between 1mm-1.2mm. So, the objects magnified under compound microscopes are built up onto microscope slides. Several techniques of preparation enable avant-garde viewing of organic and inorganic objects.
The highly effective yet important techniques of placing samples onto microscope slides are as mentioned below:
Dry Mount
It is considered as the basic method of slide preparation. All you need to do is to position a thinly sliced section on the mid of the slide and place a coverslip over the sample. Dry mounts are perfect for observing hair, airborne particles like dust and pollens and dead matter like insects and aphid legs. Opaque specimens need fine slices for enough illumination.
Wet Mount
Wet mounts are usually used for aquatic samples, natural observations and living organisms. They suspend specimens in fluids like water glycerin, brine and immersion oil. A wet mount needs a liquid, pipette, tweezers and paper towels. In order to prepare the microscope slide well, you need to place a fluid drop at the center of the slide, position sample on liquid using tweezers and then at an angle, place one side of the coverslip against the slide making contact with the outer edge of the liquid drop. Moving forward, lower the cover by avoiding air bubbles and finally get rid of the surplus water with the towel.
Smear Slides
Usually, smear slides need one or more flat, plain slides, pipette, coverslips, and tissue paper. Pipe a liquid sample like blood or slime onto a slide then use the edge of the second slide and spread the sample creating a thin coating. After this, put a coverslip over the sample and gently remove the liquid in excess.
Staining
There are a diverse variety of techniques available for staining microscope slides, consisting non-vital or in vitro stains of non-living cells and vital or in vivo strains of living tissue. Staining gives contrast through color that exposes structural details undetected in other slide preparations. Staining solutions like methylene blue, iodine, and crystal violet can be added to wet or dry mounts. To prepare the slide, add a drop of staining solution on the edge of one side of the coverslip, position the edge of a paper towel on the other end and let the dye to be drawn across the specimen.
