Highlights in the History of Microbiology 7 



of which work for the good of mankind, is a bright chapter in the 

 history of biology. Long before the advent of television, the radio, 

 the motor car, the refrigerator, and many other conveniences that 

 enrich our lives to the point where we consider them as necessities, 

 microbiological history was slowly being written. In 100 B.C. 

 we find records of a Roman named Marcus Varro (116-27 B.C.) 

 who speculated: "Certain minute invisible animals develop which, 

 carried by the air, may enter the body through mouth or nose 

 and cause serious ailments." How do you suppose Varro would 

 react were he to peer through some of our modern instruments and 

 see these microscopic living forms? 



The eyes of what we term a normal individual cannot see 

 objects smaller than about 30 microns (about Yiooo oi an inch) 

 in diameter, but by grinding lenses in certain ways we have created 

 greater near-sightedness, if you will, which allows us to view 

 objects much smaller than 30 microns. The origin of the first 

 ground lenses is lost in history, although reference to magnifying 

 glasses can be found in the writings of the ancient Greeks and 

 Romans. As early as 1267 a Franciscan monk, Roger Bacon ( 1214- 

 1294), clarified some of the principles of optics, and he is usually 

 credited with being the founder of the science of optics. Bacon 

 suggested, probably for the first time, that these lenses could be 

 fashioned into spectacles for persons with poor eyesight. A report 

 from Florence dated 1299 states: "I find myself so pressed by age 

 that I can neither read nor write without those glasses they call 

 spectacles, lately invented to the great advantage of poor old men 

 when their eyesight grows weak." While reading the latest Book 

 of the Month offerings did not take much of a person's time back 

 in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, what a joy it must have 

 been for the aged in the twilight of their lives to again see the 

 world about them. We have good reason to assume that the 

 crudeness of these early spectacles, while affording temporary 

 help to failing eyes, might have done a great deal of harm over a 

 period of time to persons suffering from certain eye disorders. 

 Carefully compounded prescriptions for glasses were not available 

 for centuries after these first spectacles were marketed. 



