CHAPTER XV 



THE MICROSCOPE IN NATURE STUDY 



No one who possesses a pocket-microscope of even the 

 most limited powers can fail to find amusement and instruc- 

 tion even though he were in the midst of the Sahara itself. 

 There is this great advantage in the microscope, that no one 

 need feel in want of objects as long as he possesses his instru- 

 ment and a sufficiency of light. — Rev. J. G. Wood. 



If normal eyesight is so valuable that even a 

 slight defect promptly brings forth efforts to 

 remedy it, then why do we not hail with joy the 

 aid of even a small microscope, that will add so 

 greatly to our capacity of seeing ? The microscope 

 is not an occult instrument of a special science, 

 necessitating a knowledge of that science in order 

 to appreciate the instrument. It is true that the 

 microscope is used extensively in scientific work, 

 and this fact is so generally accepted that the 

 statement, at least in popular thought, seems to 

 prove too much, since the instrument is believed to 

 be inseparable from the science. But the micro- 

 scope is in itself nothing but an instrument with 



which to see. This is as true of optical aids for 

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