ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE. 167 
and if the moveable stage can be dispensed with for the ordi- 
nary one, object-glasses of moderate aperture are sold with it 
at the same price, which are sufficiently well corrected for 
scientific investigation. The possessor, therefore, of a first-class 
microscope can thus obtain a portable one, if he pleases, at a 
very trifling cost, even when fitted with the binocular body, 
since all that he requires is the stand,—for as, by a general 
consent amongst the best opticians, the screws of every modern 
microscope and object-glass are so constructed as to fit each 
other alike, he will find his own objectives equally well adapted 
both to his large and small instrument. 
Mr. Thomas Ross and Messrs. Powell and Lealand have 
justly earned the gratitude of the public for their unceasing 
energy in perfecting the various departments of microscopic 
art. But surely, with equal justice, those who have done 
their utmost to bring really efficient instruments within the 
reach of ordinary purchasers. Amongst this latter class of 
opticians may be named Mr. Dancer, of Manchester; Mr. 
King, of Bristol; Messrs. Field and Parkes, of Birmingham ; 
and Messrs. Amadio, Baker, Crouch, Highley, Horne, Ladd, 
Warrington, and Wood, of London; but especially Messrs. 
Smith, Beck, and Beck, who, descending from the high ground 
they occupy as the manufacturers of first-class microscopes, 
have taken such pains to effect this desirable object. Nor can, 
indeed, such an object be too warmly promoted; for the 
microscope, owing to the perfection of its present construction, 
is becoming every day more and more popular. It is as 
necessary almost to the surgeon as his surgical instruments. 
It is hourly enlarging our view of the astonishing products of 
an invisible world, unmistakeably revealing the Finger of 
God, and transforming the commonest things cast aside as 
worthless by the careless and unobservant, into treasures 
truly wonderful and precious. 
I must now bring these remarks to a close; and which 
have been written with the sincere desire that those who would 
set up a microscope for themselves may not fall into the same 
snare that I did myself, but may reap, by a short and 
royal road, all the benefits from that engaging instrument 
that it has cost me many years to acquire. 
