188 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [October, 



as the only true test of what objectives should do. The result was the same, 

 with a perfect outfit in the way of appai'atus, a special and very costly camera, 

 a heliostat of marvelous accuracy and great cost. A photograph of the A77i- 

 pkipleura was obtained, but so full of interference and diffraction lines that 

 the straight and clean lines looked as though they were rows of square dots. 

 Dr. Detmers photographed the object with his little home-made camera box 

 and a coal-oil lamp. He obtained a negative absolutely free from a line of 

 diffraction, each marking line of the diatom standing as sharp and clear as a 

 round in a ladder. The experiences at Jena were repeated at Wetzlar. 



As to cost, Dr. Detmers showed by catalogues and price-lists that when 

 grade and quality are taken into consideration the difference is very little. 

 Indeed, in the highest grades, such as he was testing, the American objectives 

 are the cheapest. Concerning stands, the doctor stated that the Germans 

 have of late somewhat improved upon their older models, but in every in- 

 stance where this has been done the improvement is of American origin. 

 The Germans still cling, says Dr. Detmers, to their squatty models, with a 

 stage so low and awkward that there is no room either above or below it for 

 the accessories which make our American stands the most convenient in the 

 world. To obviate these defects, the Germans make and supply a number 

 of ingenious, beauti|^ul, and costly accessories, each piece of which is intended 

 to correct some one or another trouble caused by defective construction in the 

 first place. 



These views of a thoroughly competent German are identical with those 

 held by Americans who have had opportunities for similarly comparing the 

 objectives of the best American makers with those from the most famous of 

 European opticians. 



The co-operation of scientists in experiments in a certain line, as suggested 

 by Miss Vida A. Latham of Ann Arbor, brought on a discussion, in the course 

 of which the propriety of publishing an American magazine similar to the 

 one issued by the Royal Microscopical Society of London was urged. Pro- 

 fessor Detmers's motion that a committee of three be appointed to consider 

 the question was referred to the executive committee. 



Professors Seaman, Kellicott. and Bleile were among those who took part 

 in the discussions. 



The press of Columbus, especially the State Jotirnal ■d.wd. The Press ^ ably 

 reported the proceedings, the latter intix)ducing its reports with the following 

 appreciative comments : — 



' The sessions presented some rare scientific food, to be digested by the 

 students of the lowest orders of animal life. The American Microscopical 

 Association was born ten years ago at Lidianapolis, and to-day has a select 

 membership of more than three hundred scientists throughout America. 

 These gentlemen, by the use of the microscope according to well-founded 

 principles, are making rapid strides towards the discovery of the nature and 

 cause of disease. They have discovered a specific germ or organism for ty- 

 phoid fever, another germ creates tuberculosis, or consumption as it is com- 

 monly called, and many other germs producing each its own special disease 

 have been discovered and are known by their size and shape as seen under 

 the microscope. These gentlemen by their scientific investigations know just 

 as certainly that certain germs produce certain diseases, as we do that water 

 quenches fire. These germs under certain conditions of the atmosphere are 

 cultivated. The American Alicroscopical Association and the Microscopical 

 Society of Ohio are thus developing tacts which aid the physician in the 

 practice of medicine. The causes of certain diseases being more certainly 

 traced to their fountain head, the treatment by w^hich patients are relieved of 

 great pain is made comparatively more simple. This association of micros- 



