A strew slide from Matlock Bath (about 1.5 miles south of Matlock, United Kingdom). Mounted in Realgar. No makers name. Olympus BHB microscope using 450nm light. 20x Nikon Plan Apo NA 0.65 objective. Olympus Aplanat Achromat condenser, brightfield lighting. 2.5x Nikon CF PL photoeyepiece. Monochrome converted Nikon d850 camera. Single image, showing the full frame.
Let’s unpack what we can from the label. It says “Matlock Bath sample, Realgar V.E., Aroclor 4465L superstrate”. Not sure what the ‘V.E.’ is referring to. It looks to be a very thin layer of Realgar – thinner than most if not all I have seen so far. No obvious sealing around the edge of the coverslip which is unusual for Realgar slides. ‘Superstrate’ definition, a layer adjacent and parallel to another. I am assuming therefore: coverslip, Realgar/diatoms, the Aroclor 4465, the slide. Perhaps indicates someone trying to refine the preparation technique?