ARRANGEMENT OP APPARATUS, ETC. 91 



Few amateurs can ever produce anything equal to 

 his : first, because every assistance was given by a 

 generous government, who placed all instruments 

 likely to aid in the production of perfect results at 

 his disposal : secondly, a peculiar training is re- 

 quired for the attainment of that skill, of which only 

 a few are capable, but which must be acquired before 

 any progress can be made in a special art, when it 

 arrives at that perfection which brings it just within 

 the borderland of science. 



We can therefore hardly blame those who, perhaps 

 more enlightened than ourselves, perceive, that even 

 if we had the opportunities of Mr. Woodward, we 

 lack the ability to use them. 



Mr. Wenbam, as early as 1855, gave instructions 

 in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, for 

 improving Microscopic Photography. We do not 

 recommend the plan then adopted. Mr. Highley we 

 believe subsequently obtained very good results, but 

 his method rendered necessary the use of a special 

 apparatus, distinct from the ordinary microscope. 



Captain Abney has given us a few good hints, and 

 we regret he has not told us more. The impression 

 left, after a perusal of his opinions, was that he must 

 have worked with inferior lenses. He considers that 

 higher powers than the quarter inch do not give as 

 good results, on account of " the diffraction images 



of parts of the object this being dependent on 



the relative sizes of the object and of the aperture of 

 the objective." This is directly contrary to our ex- 

 perience, as no objectives we possess give as good 



