1881.J 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



193 



faction of the energetic members of 

 the Elmira Society, we hope it will be. 



The " Congress " Turn-table. — 

 Sometimes there is much in a name. 

 Last month we inadvertently referred 

 to the turn-table manufactured by 

 Mr. Bulloch as the " Congress," but 

 Messrs. J. W. Sidle & Co. have re- 

 minded us that they make the " Con- 

 gress," while Mr. Bulloch makes the 

 "Volute." We beg pardon for the 

 blunder ; but as Mr. Bulloch makes 

 the " Congress " microscope, why 

 doesn't he make the " Congress " 

 turn-table also ? And as Messrs. 

 Sidle & Co. make the "Acme" mi- 

 croscopes, why do they not make the 

 " Acme " turn-tables ? 



Perhaps this is one of the things 

 no man can find out. 



Charles A. Spencer. — Charles A. 

 Spencer is dead. Probably in the 

 beautiful town of Geneva, where he 

 lived, scarcely any, except a few per- 

 sonal friends, were aware of how 

 inuch the scientific world is indebted 

 to the ingenuity and persevering la- 

 bor of Mr. Spencer. He was, in truth, 

 a pioneer in the work of perfecting 

 the compound microscope, and for 

 almost fifty years he has been closely 

 identified with the improvements in 

 the manufacture of microscope- 

 objectives in this country. So far as 

 we can learn, he was the first to make 

 a notably good American objective, 

 although some objectives were made 

 here before his time, and even in his 

 first attempts he far excelled the Eu- 

 ropean makers. It was under Mr. 

 Spencer that Mr. Robert B. Tolles 

 learned the art of making objectives, 

 for which he has acquired a reputa- 

 tion fully equal to that of his in- 

 structor. 



It seems almost incredible that 

 fifty years ago scarcely a dozen com- 

 pound microscopes were to be found 

 in this whole country, and yet in the 

 year 1847, when Mr. Spencer made 

 his first instrument, the only persons 



in this city who possessed micro- 

 scopes were Dr. C. R. Oilman, who 

 had one by Chevalier ; Mr. John Frey, 

 who had a Pritchard ; and Dr. Alonzo 

 Clark and Dr. John Torrey. The 

 stand owned by Mr. Frey is now in 

 the possession of Prof. Doremus, of 

 this city, and the Chevalier belongs 

 to Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, the Presi- 

 dent of Columbia College. 



About the year 1847 Spencer visit- 

 ed New York City, and there saw Dr. 

 Oilman's microscope. He remarked 

 that he could make a better instru- 

 ment, and Dr. Oilman ordered one. 

 When it was finished Spencer brought 

 it to New York ; but on the way he 

 stopped at West Point, where he visit- 

 ed Prof. Bailey and showed his new 

 microscope. This instrument includ- 

 ed a safety-stage, two oculars, three 

 objectives — a ^, a ^, and a y^^-inch — 

 a lieberkuhn for the -J^-inch, and a 

 polariscope. It was modeled upon 

 the Chevalier plan, but was rather 

 smaller than the instrument by that 

 maker. In a letter to Dr. John Frey, 

 dated Canastota, N. Y., October 21st, 

 1847, from which we are enabled to 

 quote by the courtesy of Mr. Frey, 

 Mr. Spencer describes his first inter- 

 view with Prof. Bailey in the follow- 

 ing language : — 



" Now, between ourselves, I did 

 nof make as good an instrument (in 

 the highest power I mean) for Dr. 

 Oilman as I k/iom I can make. I used 

 the Swiss flint with the intention of 

 beating the foreign instruments with 

 their own materials — with the design 

 of replacing the highest power by one 

 of my best at a subsequent day. 

 * * * I wished to get, moreover, 

 as correct an idea of the capacity of 

 the foreign instruments as possible — 

 aiming to make Dr. Oilman's instru- 

 ment as nearly the standard of the 

 best as I could judge, and knowing 

 that Prof. Bailey's Navicula hippo- 

 campus test would prove the matter 

 well, I called upon him. * * * i 

 had some misgivings, of course, as to 

 the resolution of the hippocampus, 

 and told Prof. Bailey so. * * * I 



