152 THE MICROSCOPE. Oct. 



to know and recognize the various forms of bacilli; he 

 must be able to classify them and know their manner 

 and method of growth, Avhat they produce by their 

 growth and what influence they> have upon humanity. 

 This is the philosphy of microscopy as relates to medi- 

 cal science. The microscope therefore becomes to the 

 physician valuable in the degree that he is able to classify 

 and arrange its revelations so that they may be read as 

 from an open book. This faculty means a familiarity 

 with the instrument born of time, — time which the 

 " Country doctor" must give by piecemeal, if at all. 



I am no pessimist, although I see in a degree the pass- 

 ing of the microscope so far as it relates to the individ- 

 ual work of the ordina;ry medical practitioner. As al- 

 ready intimated, this passing is induced and sustained 

 by unskilled and untrained ej^es, which see much and 

 individualize little. 



Tfie structure of microscopy, if it be enduring, must 

 be built upon a comparatively errorless microscopy. The 

 rank and file still have to learn that the microscope 

 only enables the investigator to continue his eyesight, 

 so as to observe the primary structure of an organised 

 mass that would otherwise remain unknown and un- 

 knowable. 



The first essential, then, for a physician microscopist, 

 is the proper use of his eyes, supplemented by a keen 

 intellect ; what he sees he must l)e able to describe ac- 

 curately, thus differentiating the various forms and fig- 

 ures that appear in the visual field. 



Neither is it enough for him to recognize an object in 

 an isolated condition and know its form and construction: 

 he must know as well what relation it sustains to other 

 objects about it. This calls for the exercise of the com- 

 parative faculty, the second essential for the physician 

 microscopist ; indeed, these two elements may be called 

 his eyes. With these faculties undeveloped, untrained, 



