THE MICROSCOPE. 



PART I. 



HISTORY OF THE INVENTION AND IMPROVEMENTS OF 



THE MICROSCOPE. 



CHAPTER I. 



HISTORY OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



HE instrument known as the Mi- 

 croscope derives its name from 

 two Greek words, /xiKpos, small, 

 and crK07reco, to view; that is, to 

 see or view such minute objects 

 as without its aid would be in- 

 visible. 



The honour of the invention 

 is claimed by the Italians and the 

 Dutch ; the name of the inventor, 

 however, is lost. Probably the 

 discovery did not at first appear 

 sufficiently important to engage 

 the attention of those men who, 

 by their reputation in science, were able to establish an 

 opinion of its merit, and to hand down the name of its 

 inventor to succeeding ages. 



If we consider the microscope as an instrument con- 

 sisting of one lens only, it is not at all improbable that it 

 was known at a very early period, nay even in a degree to 



n 



