The Microscope. Its History, Construction, and Application 15th ed. / Being a familiar introduction to the use of the instrument, and the study of microscopical science

by Jabez Hogg

RADIOLARIA.

THE
MICROSCOPE
ITS HISTORY, CONSTRUCTION, AND APPLICATION
BEING A FAMILIAR INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF
THE INSTRUMENT, AND THE STUDY OF
MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE
By JABEZ HOGG, M.R.C.S., F.R.M.S.,
FORMERLY AND FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS SURGEON TO THE ROYAL WESTMINSTER OPHTHALMIC
HOSPITAL; PAST PRESIDENT OF THE MEDICAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY; HONORARY
FELLOW OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA; OF THE MEDICO-LEGAL
SOCIETY, NEW YORK; OF THE BELGIAN MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY, ETC.; AUTHOR
OF “ELEMENTS OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY,” “A MANUAL OF
OPHTHALMOSCOPIC SURGERY,” ETC.
WITH UPWARDS OF
NINE HUNDRED
ENGRAVED
AND COLOURED
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
TUFFEN WEST
AND
OTHER ARTISTS

An 18th Century Microscope.
FIFTEENTH EDITION
RE-CONSTRUCTED,
RE-WRITTEN,
REVISED, AND
ENLARGED
THROUGHOUT
LONDON AND NEW YORK
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED
1898

BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO. I.D., PRINTERS,
LONDON AND TONBRIDGE.

PREFACE TO THE FIFTEENTH EDITION.

The First Edition of this work appeared in 1854, a time in the history of the Microscope when the instrument, as an aid to original scientific research, may be said to have been in its infancy. Then certainly it was seldom employed in the laboratory or the medical schools. Now, however, as I anticipated, it has asserted its proper position, and has at length become one of the most important auxiliaries to science, and a direct incentive to original work, while it has doubtless exercised considerable influence over the student’s power of observation, and materially assisted in his studies, let his ultimate object and pursuits be what they may.

The greater use made of the Microscope has likewise conferred benefits of untold value upon the arts and industries of the country, thereby adding to the national prosperity in ways as manifold as unique. The Microscope has also proved of immense value in the promotion of the health of the community, and the art and science of healing, since the theory of medicine has become a science, resting on the minute microscopical examination of animal tissues.

The work of research in the sister sciences and by other methods has, during the last decade, received a corresponding impetus, while it has undoubtedly tended towards elaboration and specialisation in all departments. In consequence, the progress of microscopical science has become more dependent upon the specialist for gaining accurate knowledge and for certain important details seen to be branching out in many directions. There never was a time when the instrument was so constantly and generally resorted to and with so much confidence and advantage, as the present. It has shown itself equal to the task imposed—that of teaching the eye to see things that are new, and also, what is perhaps of more importance, to perceive things which had been entirely overlooked. The older defects, perhaps, arose from two causes; the want of more careful training of the organ of vision, and the want of sufficient power and precision in the optical part of the Microscope itself. Both of these obstacles have been to a considerable extent removed, and all educational systems are looked upon as incomplete without a knowledge of the Microscope.