From: rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk   
      
   riburr wrote:   
   > Rusty Hinge wrote:   
   >>   
   >> Just obtained a cheapo Tasco microscope from an Oxfam charity shop in   
   >> Norwich - 50x - 1200x magnification, one pound ninety pence - not a lot   
   >> lost if it's as bad as its red plastic body and chrome-coloured plastic   
   >> twidlybits have prepared me for it being.   
   >>   
   >> I'm hoping it will be good enough to look at spores - until I can fin a   
   >> nice heavy one with good lenses.   
   >>   
   >    
   > What's a good magnification and resolution for mushroom spore viewing?   
      
   Ideally, up to 1,000 X   
      
   > Benjamin, in his book "Mushrooms: poisons and panaceas," recommends oil    
   > immersion, 1000-1600X. This magnification is required as an aid to a    
   > medical diagnosis where mushroom poisoning is suspected, and spores from    
   > the mushrooms consumed are available.   
      
   I wouldn't argue. I'd guess that 1,000 X would do at a pinch - I was    
   recommended - 'at least 1,000 X'   
      
   > Size and shape of mushroom spores are roughly equal to human red blood   
   > cells (6-8µm),   
      
   Some of them...   
      
   > but you need to resolve smaller then this to view spore    
   > ornamentation.  would you use an etched cover slip to determine spore    
   > dimensions?   
      
   I would if I had any.   
      
   Generally, the shape and surface texture are enough when taken in    
   conjunction with spore colour.   
      
   When distinguishing between Amanita species however, greater    
   magnifiation would be very helpful, as would a means of measuring them    
   exactly.   
      
   I'm going to have to read-up on microscopy because the last time I was    
   constantly using such instruents was when I was taking my 'O' and    
   'A'-Levels - in the latter half of the 1950s.   
      
   You can forget a lot in the time between then and now, and new wrinkles    
   have no doubt been discovered.   
      
   --    
   Rusty   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)