Figure 1. Apparatus used to image whole lenses. A: Overhead view of the apparatus. Two pieces of rubber (R) glued to a glass coverslip make a “wedged” well in which to hold and stabilize the lens (LE) on its equator (dashed line). The coverslip can then be held in place on the microscope stage and imaged from below by the microscope objective (Obj). Because the lens is held stationary in the rubber well, it can gently be rotated using forceps. In this way, the entire lens equator, including the transitional and germinative zones can be imaged. B: Side view; the lens is still in its normal, spherical shape. When rounded, the image plane is small. C: En face view of the set-up after gently applying a weighted Petri dish (WPD) on top of the lens. This flattens the fixed lens, allowing for capture of full image fields.