6 
stimulation may give the much-needed impetus to the workers 
and influence others to embark in the study of this most fascinat- 
ing science that I have put these few remarks together. 
Mark you well, I am not suggesting that microscopy is in 
abeyance, and that those members who have been workers in this 
field have gone back from their first love. Nothing of the kind. 
It is lack of appreciation that makes them hide their light under 
a bushel, and if the generality of our friends could only be made 
to take an intelligent interest in the subject I feel sure that these 
veterans we have among us would be only too delighted to come 
forward with their specimens to enlighten, to elevate, and to 
amuse. 
In the second place microscopy is one of the few scientific 
studies in which men and women can compete with an equal 
chance of success, and therefore in a mixed Society such as ours 
it especially commends itself to our careful consideration. 
Microscopic investigations can be moreover carried out at 
home, and in the most cleanly manner. A microscope is no 
discredit to the sitting or drawing-room, and the accessory 
apparatus is rather ornamental than otherwise. There is no 
season of the year or time of day when the work need be laid by. 
The summer holiday by the ocean’s sunny ripple, or in the sweet 
country lanes; a few hours spent by the edge of some quiet pool, 
or a few dips from the water of some roadside ditch, will supply. 
occupation and enjoyment for many a winter evening ; and, finally, 
is there not the stimulus of discovery ? The field covered by the 
microscope is so vast that there are but few who will carefully 
and intelligently take up a particular branch of this study but 
may certainly glean some fresh facts and add lustre to our 
science, and earn distinction for themselves. 
It is not my intention to enter into a long description of the 
microscope, but we may perhaps profitably spend a few moments 
in considering the evolution of an instrument which, from a mere 
plaything, has become one of the most important aids to modern 
discovery, and marked an epoch in scientific history. 
It is probable that the microscope, if we may designate a 
simple lens by such a name, was of very ancient origin, but we 
must form our conclusions upon this point rather from inference 
than from direct evidence. We know that spectacles were used 
in the 13th century, and probably consisted of convex, or magni- 
fying, as well as concave glasses ; also that at a meeting of the 
British Association in 1852 Sir David Brewster exhibited a lens 
which had been discovered among the ruins of Nineveh. Cicero 
