HARD WTCKE 'S S CIENCE - G O SSIjP. 



57 



corona, which nearly resembles in shape the cup or 

 chalice used for holding the sacramental wine. In 

 1874 I again visited the lovely spot above referred 

 to, in time to see the pretty village church decorated 

 for Easter-day with this poetic flower, in unison with 

 the Primrose, Rose, and wild Ivy, and very artistic 

 the eiTect was. 



According to some authors, the generic name is 

 derived from the classical story of the youth Nar- 

 cissus, as related by Ovid and other ancient authors ; 

 while Pliny and others derive the generic name from 

 the Greek word iiarcc, on account of the narcotic per- 

 fume. This is so great that the smell in a close room 

 is said to often cause faintness and headache. 



The perianth is of a paler yellow than the corolla- 

 tube or cup, which is an outgrowth of the perianth. 



In Hertfordshire and other counties, an old custom 

 still exists of gathering these flowers, and placing 

 them on sticks, and these bouquets are carried by 

 children into towns while singing the old ditty, 

 " Daffa-down-dilly is coming to town." They term 

 this custom "going a daffying." 



Few flowers except the Ivily and Rose, have re- 

 ceived more fanciful tributes from poets of all ages 

 than this. Herrick's is perhaps the most touching : — 



" Fair Daffodils ! we weep to see 

 You haste away so soon : 

 As yet the early rising sun 

 Has not attain'd his noon. 

 Stay, stay, 

 Until the hastening day 

 Has run." 



Virgil and numerous others have also alluded to 



these beautiful flowers. 



E. Edwards. 



ERRORS OF INTERPRETATION; WITH 

 ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE EX- 

 AMINATION OF SCALES OF INSECTS. 



By Jabez Hogg, 



Surgeon to the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital, Hon. 

 Member of the Belgian Microscopical Society, &c. 



{Read before the Belgian Microscopical Society, Sept. 29, 1876. ) 



SCALES of insects and other minute objects, 

 when viewed under high-power lenses, and by 

 certain methods of illumination — as by rays of light 

 transmitted in an oblique direction — assume appear- 

 ances that become sources of error in the interpreta- 

 tion of structure. Even those experienced in the use 

 of the microscope may for a time remain under some 

 misconception with regard to details of objects, or the 

 differentiation of constituent tissue. It has for many 

 years past been my aim, both by teaching and writing, 

 to put beginners on their guard on matters of so 

 much importance.* Nothing in my opinion has more 

 tended towards the promotion and perpetuation of 

 errors in microscopy than the promulgation of in- 



flated notions on the value and importance of 

 "amplifiers" and "aplanatic searchers" as acces- 

 sories to the microscope. Indeed, it is contended 

 that the "aplanatic searcher "is an absolute necessity 

 for obtaining increase of magnification, and enabling 

 the observer to compare the known with the unknown ; 

 that by its aid we " improve the penetration, amplify 

 magnifying power, intensify definition, and raise the 

 objective somewhat further from its dangerous proxi- 

 mity to the delicate covering glass, indispensable to 

 the observation of objects under very high powers."* 

 A gentleman of some experience in the use of this 

 instrument, and who has apparently thoroughly im- 

 bibed the erroneous views of the author of the 

 " aplanatic searcher," believes that to such an acces- 

 sory we must look for increase in magnification. He 

 writes: "From the great improvements in object- 



* See the several editions of my book, 

 scope," from 1854 to 1870, pp. 63 et scq. 



'On the Micro- 



Fig. 46. Scale of Gnat. Fig. 47. Scale of Diurnal 



Lepidoptera, showing "beading." 



glasses made within the last few years, it would be 

 reasonable to infer that opticians have reached the 

 limit of perfection in that direction, and that future 

 progress in the power of the microscope must depend 

 mainly upon the eye-piece or intermediate arrange- 

 ment of lenses between the eye-piece and object- 

 glass. "+ He thereupon proceeds to construct an 

 "amplifier " by means of which " the microscope can 

 be increased four or eight-fold without apparent loss 

 of definition." A close examination of "amplifier' 



* Dr. Pigott. The Monthly Microscopical Journal, vol. iv. 

 p. 62, and vol. v. p. 129. 



t The Rev. J. H. Wythe, M.D. 

 News, May, 1876, p. 237. 



The Cincinnati Medical 



