286 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [Sept 



The microscope in the department of medicine requires 

 for its intelligent manipulation a familiarity with anatomy, 

 pathology, bacteriology, and last, but not least, biology, 

 which subject scarcely ever enters into a medical college 

 curriculum. We, as physicians, must deal with material 

 forms that are endowed with life, and of that relation 

 which exists between the material form and life we must 

 have some concept, though it be partial and inadequate, 

 for on the relation of things material or immaterial is 

 the development of human thought possible. The life 

 force of the bacillus is doubtless as intricate as the life 

 force of the human subject and may be similar if not 

 identical with it ; for what is the body in which the ego 

 resides more than an aggregation of amebfe specialized, 

 and each ameba possibly having an independent life and 

 having reproductive properties of its own. It is with 

 the minute mass of matter, not the molecule, that the 

 microscopist has to deal ; he sees its manner and method 

 of growth and not the forces which produce the molecular 

 arrangement of the ultimate particles. 



It is not enough that the physician be able to observe 

 and differentiate the various forms of the micrococcus, 

 spirillum or bacillus : he must know as well the habitat, 

 manner and method of growth of each variety. Without 

 this knowledge the revelations of the microscope are no 

 more intelligible than some Egyptian inscriptions. There 

 is a philosophy of microscopy which is equally as valuable 

 as the facts on which it is based, but a philosophy that 

 can only be developed by accurate observation and classi- 

 fication of microscopical data. This work, it is evident 

 must be performed by the skilled microscopist and not 

 by the novice, in which class the busy practitioner is 

 usually found. In microscopical analysis no element 

 relative to accuracy can with safety be omitted. It 

 matters not though the microscopical accessories be 

 thoroughly cleansed and sterilized, for the results would 



