Where this is not procurable a stand must be provided, and this for a large lantern should be strong and rigid. Anything in the way of a collapsible tripod should be avoided, but such an arrangement as Fig. 46 is quite good and rigid enough for all practical purposes.
For a small lantern a tripod stand is quite suitable, though care must be taken that one of the legs does not get kicked, either by accident or design, or the result may be a catastrophe.
Slide Boxes.—On this subject not much need be said. The variety of patterns on the market is endless, some being designed from the point of view of safe transit by post, others for convenience of storage and classification. It is essentially a case where each individual user must use his or her taste, and in any case the question of the box is one for the owner of the slides rather than for the lanternist.
Reading-Desks, Lamps, and Signals.—Some form of reading lamp for the lecturer is generally considered to be part of a lanternist's equipment, and the most usual pattern is fitted with a candle, after the manner of a carriage lamp, or else constructed to burn colza or other vegetable oil, such as supplied for cycle lamps. Oil gives the brighter light, but is apt to get spilled in transit, hence a candle lamp is the more
convenient for a travelling lecturer, while oil is to be preferred if transport is not a factor to be considered.
These lamps are usually constructed with a red flashing signal at the rear, actuated by a simple lever, by which the lecturer can communicate his wish for a change of slide, &c., to the lanternist (Fig. 47).
There are various other devices used for the same purpose, such as a castanet, to be held in the lecturer's hand and clicked when necessary, an electric bell to ring in the lantern box, &c. If this latter is used it is usual to remove the gong, the buzz of the hammer being sufficiently loud without it. Some lecturers again prefer to use no such apparatus at all, but simply to say 'Next slide' as required, or to tap on the floor with a pointer, and the choice of a suitable means of communication between lecturer and lanternist must be largely a matter of individual selection. More elaborate reading-desks are also supplied by most makers, but here again judgment must largely come into play in what is hardly a technical matter.