Hey Linda,
There's a hard plastic lens that's on a band and fits around your head. It's
available at hobby shops for between $9 and $15 and magnifies 4x (I think). I
use it all the time for beach drift. The lens is stereo and indestructible
(what it's mounted to is not).

Major disadvantage on the beach is that I've got to hunch over in
uncomfortable positions in order to be in focus. In the house, I can raise the
table surface, hunch over, or pick the specimen up.

I was looking into stereoscopes for a while but I couldn't see paying so much.
Now I just got a Fuji S1 digital camera that should be quite an aid to
magnifying and identifying specimens. The Fuji attaches to Nikon lenses that I
have arranged for macro photography.

David Kirsh
Durham, NC

On Sat, 21 Dec 2002 16:22:12 -0500 lindawbush <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Thanks, Eveyone,
>
> For tips about handling micros when one's
> manual dexterity
> leaves something to be desired. I thought I
> would have to
> give up working with shells so small.  You
> replies should
> help me to continue enjoying the little ones
> (but I've got
> to get a microsope some one of these days;
> trying to hold
> a loupe and look too is just too difficult).
>
> Cheerfully,
> Linda
>