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Photographic gallery.  Thousands of particles under the microscope.
Bird Droppings Through the Microscope

Bird Dropping

This is from a sample of white material found as a streak on hardware in a factory. The mounting medium has a refractive index of approximately 1.485. There is a single linear polarizing filter in the optical path oriented parallel to the long axis of the crystal. This is a near refractive index match with the calcium oxalate monohydrate crystal that has its alpha refractive index parallel to the long axis.

Transmitted Linear Polarized Light

Definition/Function:

Significance in the Environment:

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References:

Rapp, George Jr. and Susan C. Mulholland (eds) 1992, PHYTOLITH SYSTEMACTICS: EMERGING ISSUES, PLENUM PRESS Piperno, Dolores R. (2006), PHYTOLITHS: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE FOR ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND PALEOECOLOGISTS, ALTAMIRA PRESS.