PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



jj,HE Author of this Publication entered upon 

 his task with some hesitation and diffidence ; 

 but the reasons which influenced him to 

 undertake it may be briefly told, and they 

 at once explain his motives, and plead his 

 justification, for the work which he now 

 ventures to submit to the indulgent con- 

 sideration of his readers. 



It had been to him for some time a sub- 

 ject of regret, that one of the most useful 

 and fascinating of studies the study that belongs to the 

 domain of microscopic observation should be, if not 

 wholly neglected, at best but coldly and indifferently 

 appreciated, by the great mass of the general public ; and 

 he formed a strong opinion, that this apathy and inatten- 

 tion were mainly attributable to the want of some concise, 

 yet sufficiently comprehensive, popular account of the 

 Microscope, both as regards the management and mani- 

 pulation of the instrument, and the varied wonders and 

 hidden realms of beauty that are disclosed and developed 

 by its aid. He saw around him, valuable, erudite, and 

 splendid volumes ; which, however, being chiefly destined 

 for circulation amongst a special class of readers, were 

 necessarily, from the nature of their contents and the style 

 of their production, published at a price that renders thein 

 practically unattainable by the great bulk of the public. 



