71 PEEFACE. 



; tical arrangements of their instruments, the chief English 



3ope-makers are decidedly in advance of their Continental 



but on the other hand the latter have supplied instruments 



are adequate to all the ordinary purposes of scientific re- 



at a lower price than such could until recently be obtained 



in this country. Several British makers, however, are now devoting 



Ives to the production of Microscopes which shall be really 



lough cheap ; and the Author cannot but view with great 



tion the extension of the manufacture in this direction. 



In th' selection of Instruments for description which it was neces- 



i r him to make, he trusts that he will be found to have done 



fce justice to those who have most claim to honourable men- 



Nearly the whole of this portion of the work has been 



:en for the present Edition. 



•eating of the Applications of the Microscope, the Author 



stantly endeavoured to meet the wants of such as come to 



t .dy of the minute forms of Animal and Vegetable life with 



• no previous scientific preparation, but desire to gain some- 



aore than a mere sight of the objects to which their obser- 



may be directed. Some of these may perhaps object to the 



tone of his work as too highly-pitched, and may think that 



ht have rendered his descriptions simpler by employing 



cientific terms. But he would reply that he has had much 



t mity of observing among the votaries of the Microscope a 



for such information as he has attempted to convey (of the 



of which desire, the success of the ' ' Quarterly Journal of 



opical Science " is a very gratifying evidence); and that the 



scientific terms cannot be easily dispensed with, since there 



others in which the facts can be readily expressed. As 



he hai made a point of explaining these in the places where they 



are ft t introduced, he cannot think that any of his readers need 



.ch difficulty in apprehending their meaning. 



proportion of space allotted to the several departments has 



! termined not so much by their Physiological importance, as 



<>y r r special interest to the amateur Microscopist ; and the 



trance of this consideration will serve to account for much 



ght otherwise appear either defective or redundant. The 



has thought it particularly needful to limit himself | in 



; of certain very important subjects which are fully discussed 



tises expressly devoted to them (such, for example, as 



