be es "AC By. 
HE completion of our first volume gives us a suitable 
opportunity of thanking our readers for the kind support they 
have given to our little venture. 
When we cast our eyes about us and see the vast strides that 
Microscopy is making, when we consider the important part it is 
playing in the different departments of Science, and how extensive 
is its application in the arts and manufactures, we must be at once 
struck by the paucity of journalistic literature devoted to a prac- 
tical handling of the subject. 
It was in a measure to supply this want that the Northern 
Microscopist was brought into existence, and to this, too, doubt- 
less, is largely owing the fact that it has at once found its way 
to so many book-shelves. 
Very many—we might almost say most—of our large towns 
have their own Microscopical Societies, but it has not been found 
possible for such to publish separately their own proceedings. We 
have to a certain extent enabled the Societies in our Northern 
towns to possess a complete record of their meetings, while many 
of the papers read at them have been printed without abridge- 
ment, and have, at a considerable expense, been illustrated, when- 
ever it appeared that such a proceeding was necessary to secure 
their due appreciation. 
It has been our aim to supply the reader with articles of a 
practical nature, and we are glad to find that they have met with a 
favourable reception. The chapters introducing the study of Fungi 
and of Lichens, the monthly articles on Micro-Fungi and Leaf- 
