MARVELS OF POND-LIFE. 



CHAPTER I. 



PLAIN HINTS ON MICROSCOPES AND THEIR 

 MANAGEMENT. 



The microscope is rapidly becoming the coiii- 

 paiiioii of every intelligent family that can afford 

 its purchase, and, thanks to the skill of onr op- 

 ticians, instruments which can be made to answer 

 the majority of purposes, may be purchased for three 

 or four guineas, while even those whose price is 

 counted in shillings are by no means to be despised. 

 The most eminent English makers stand unrivalled 

 throughout the world, while the average pi'oductions 

 of respectable houses exhibit so high a degree of 

 excellence, as to make comparisons invidious. We 

 shall not, therefore, indulge in the praises of par- 

 ticular firms, but simply reconmiend any reader 

 entering upon microscopic study, to procure an 

 achromatic instrument, if it can be afibided, and 



