THE ARCHIPELAGO OF CHAUSEY. 57 



presented at the same hour before the eyes of the 

 affluent idlers of our large towns. My forceps, 

 needles, and compressor * secured the objects of my 

 research ; my microscope and lenses revealed an infi- 

 nite world to my eyes, my pencils and brushes enabled 

 me to secure rough illustrations of these treasures to 

 be filled up at some future time with more care and 

 exactitude ; while my pen was employed in hastily 

 drawing up the notes necessary to give permanence 

 to my recollection of what I had seen. I saw one 

 fact linking itself to other facts, I felt one thought 

 awaken other thoughts, and this mutual reaction 

 between observation and intelligence was the source 

 of unspeakable enjoyment. Yes ! in this remote spot 

 of earth, whose desolate aspect could not fail to strike 

 the beholder with profoundly sombre impressions, in 

 this large room in which the cold and the dampness 

 seemed to struggle for preeminence, in the absence 

 of all material comforts, I can truly say that I 

 enjoyed the most unalloyed pleasure that has as yet 



* The compressor is a small instrument which may be almost 

 termed the hand of the microscopist. It was invented in Germany by 

 Purkinje, and has been considerably improved by subsequent ob- 

 servers. The instrument consists essentially of a metallic plate, 

 pierced in the centre by an opening, which is covered by a glass 

 plate. A second glass plate worked by a moveable ring can be 

 applied with exactness to the former plate. The ring is attached to 

 one of the extremities of a stem, which turns upon two pivots, and is 

 provided at the opposite extremity with a vice, which enables the 

 observer gradually to draw together, or separate the glass plates. 

 In the compressor which I have invented, these plates are extremely 

 thin, and the instrument is arranged in such a manner that it may 

 be turned round to show successively the two opposite faces of the 

 object placed between the two glass plates. 



