The Microscope – Volume 64, Fourth Quarter 2016

IN THIS ISSUE
On the cover
Shown here in crossed polars are moderately birefringent elongated yellow crystals resulting from a microcrystal test for the drug d-amphetamine using a gold chloride reagent. See Microcrystal Tests for the Identification of Illicit Drugs, page 147. (McCrone Research Institute)
Editorial | Grievance with Modern PLMs
Gary J. LaughlinThe Microscope 64:4, p. ii, 2016https://doi.org/10.59082/QRAQ9444 Excerpt: Thirty years ago, I attended my first McCrone Research Institute course in applied polarized light microscopy. We used the Nikon SK-e, which was already an old model polarized light microscope (PLM). In subsequent courses there was the monocular Olympus model POS, which had an external LSD lamp and illuminator. Most folks like myself didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back now, the SK-e and POS may have been among the better and last well-built functional PLMs. They were also ideal for learning.
Microcrystal Tests for the Identification of Illicit Drugs
Kelly M. Brinsko, Dean Golemis, Meggan B. King, Gary J. Laughlin, and Sebastian B. Sparenga The Microscope 64:4, pp. 147–166, 2016https://doi.org/10.59082/ZZBH2171
Editor's note: Beginning with this issue, The Microscope is publishing selected monographs from McCrone Research Institute's "A Modern Compendium of Microcrystal Tests for Illicit Drugs and Diverted Pharmaceuticals," which contains 19 different drugs and their microcrystal test reagents. This installment includes the original research paper, followed by the first four monographs: d-amphetamine with gold chloride reagent, d-amphetamine with platinum chloride reagent, dl-amphetamine with gold chloride reagent, and dl-amphetamine with platinum chloride reagent. Additional monographs will be published in future issues.
Pocket Microscopy: A Panacea for the Optically Curious or Just a Novel Trend?
Martin KocandaThe Microscope 64:4, pp. 167–172, 2016 https://doi.org/10.59082/OZPM1811 Abstract: The advancement of low-cost optical technology integrated into mobile devices such as smartphones has driven consumers to use various camera and video recording applications. A recently introduced pocket-size microscope peripheral can be attached to a smartphone to enable limited magnification microscopy. Features, limitations, various images, and some speculations on this trend are presented here.
Critical Focus | Beer and Pizza: A Slice of Ancient Life
Brian J. FordThe Microscope 64:4, pp. 173–185, 2016 https://doi.org/10.59082/WCZE9959 Excerpt: There is a remarkable story hidden in a sandwich. Fifty years ago, generic white sliced bread was everywhere. It’s harder to find today; modern shops are piled high with every kind of traditional loaf, and sourdough has crept out from San Francisco into everybody’s neighborhood store. On the cold cuts counter, you find salami and chorizo jostling for the attention of the modern shopper with rollmop herrings and gravlax. Foods that were once restricted to a specific ethnic sector are now mainstream, as saké and pulque are stored in drinking cabinets alongside cognac and wine. Ancient foods, like cheese, have always gone well with beer, while beverages that were once foreign to European tastes (like coffee and chocolate) went on to become universally accepted alongside age-old concoctions like vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Specialties ranging from kimchi to cassava are now available worldwide in our era of globalization. Yogurt was unfamiliar to many grandparents, but is now one of the most popular of all dairy products, and soy sauce, now used daily, was an exotic import within living memory. The range of foodstuffs and beverages we have around us is astonishing. There is a theme here, which you will recognize if you read The Microscope (if you don’t, you probably won’t).
Afterimage | School of Fish
Andrew A. Havics — pH2, LLC The Microscope 64:4, p. 192, 2016 A fusion preparation of Form I (orthorhombic) of the high explosive 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT). The sample was grown from a melt (81° C) and rapidly cooled to room temperature, resulting in crystallization of curved rods and needles that form a morphologic pattern also known as the school-of-fish habit.
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