206 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[November^ 



for objectives of the highest character 

 he must perforce seek the ateHer in 

 Boston of one who then stood with- 

 out a rival on the American continent. 

 Though his work is, as I beHeve, yet 

 to be surpassed, one may look to-day 

 not unprofitably in three or four other 

 directions to find makers of thorough- 

 ly excellent objectives ; objectives, if 

 you choose, whose available angle of 

 aperture includes, as a still sceptical 

 friend of mine dryly puts it, by far the 

 greater portion of a circumference ; 

 while as regards low powers and mod- 

 erate angles, the market now abounds 

 with excellent American-made objec- 

 tives. 



I would not overlook the fact that 

 there were other makers in this coun- 

 try at that time ; men who made ex- 

 cellent stands, and men who made 

 excellent objectives ; but I am con- 

 fident that I do no injustice to others 

 in saying that the two whom I have 

 indicated were the only ones at all 



widely known. 



• «• * * * * «■ 



Such, as I recall them, were the 

 impressions made upon a young west- 

 ern teacher, himself then a beginner 

 (and even now but little more) of 

 the times and the sessions of the first 

 Subsection of Microscopy of the 

 American Association. The effort 

 made at that time to bring together 

 the workers with our favorite instru- 

 ment was renewed from year to year 

 at succeeding meetings, the movement 

 gathering strength at Troy, at Indian- 

 apolis, at Dubuque, at Hartford, at 

 Detroit, at Buffalo (where the Sub- 

 section acquired the dignity of a per- 

 manent organization), and at each 

 succeeding meeting, until the result 

 has .been obtained which we witness 

 to-day. 



While the vastly increased interest 

 manifested in America to-day in the 

 microscope and its use must, of course, 

 be chiefly attributed to that phenom- 

 enal movement in biological science 

 which we have been so happy as to wit- 

 ness, and from which we have derived 

 so many and so varied benefits, I think 



1 may justly claim that no small credit 

 should be given to the yearly meetings 

 of the Subsection, with their usual 

 exhibitions and soirees, giving to the 

 people of the various communities in 

 which we have met, notice at least of 

 the existence of such a thing as a mi- 

 croscope, with some scant glimpses of 

 the wonders that it has to show; awa- 

 kening here and there an interest that 

 has ended in something more than 

 mere curiosity-seeking and amuse- 

 ment ; drawing together and uniting 

 those of a common interest ; to 

 which last effect may, I think, be 

 at least indirectly traced a result 

 whose future offers great promise of 

 good, the organization of the young 

 and vigorous American Society of 

 Microscopists ; an organization in 

 whose power it is to do a great 

 amount of excellent work that could 

 be done by no other means as well. 



The influence exerted in one way 

 or another by our half score of ses- 

 sions would, I think, if it could all 

 be measured, far exceed in value the 

 papers that have been read at them,, 

 though these have been neither few 

 nor unimportant. 



Such has been our prentice-work ; 

 we stand henceforth among our 

 equals as a Section. It would be plea- 

 sant here to pass from recollection to 

 prediction, and to spend the remain- 

 der of the half -hour in the discussion 

 of great possibilities ; we shall do 

 otherwise, however, if we take heed 

 to the pithy suggestion contained in 

 an ancient but excellent volume of 

 practical philosophy (with which I 

 trust that most of you are familiar) 

 concerning boasting and the putting 

 on of armor. 



And this .the more wisely because 

 another topic of a far different nature 

 presents itself, and, I may almost say,. 

 demands attention. Before telling 

 what we intend to do, we are in a cer- 

 tain way called upon to defend our 

 right to be. It is commonly known, 

 1 think, that not only in the Standing 

 Committee of last year, but also 

 throughout the membership of the 



