A single, reasonably homogeneous, nonopaque 30-to-300 μm crystal, mounted on a spindle stage and studied by immersion methods under a polarizing microscope, yields optical data frequently sufficient to identify and characterize a substance unequivocally. The data obtainable include (1) the orientation of the crystal's principal vibration axes and (2) its principal refractive indices, to within 0.0002 if desired, for light vibrating along these principal vibration axes. Spindle stages tend to be simple and relatively inexpensive, some costing less than $50. They permit rotation of the crystal about a single axis which is parallel to the microscope stage. This spindle or S-axis is thus perpendicular to the M-axis, namely the microscope stage's axis of rotation.A spindle stage excels when studying anisotropic crystals. It orients uniaxial crystals within minutes and biaxial crystals almost as quickly so that their principal refractive indices - ɛ and ω (uniaxial); α, β and γ (biaxial) - can be determined without significant error from crystal misorientation.
