This is the contact slide or buried-slide technique of Rossi et al.(1936),which is a simple technique for qualitatively assessing the spatial relationships between soil microorganisms. Although it is not reliable enough to quantify soil microorganisms. as the original authors had intended,it is useful to illustrate the orientation of soil organisms to one another and to soil particles. It also allows students to see bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi,perhaps for the first time, through the use of a microscope.