KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[October, igo6. 



The Bioscope or Long- 

 Focus Microscope. 



By I'^MII.K ("ilAKlM. 



Tins ap]3aratus has recently Iieen dcxised by M. De 

 (iasparis, of the University of \aplcs, and constructed 

 hv tiie Contakii estaljHshment of the same city; it was 

 recentl)- exhibited to the Regio Institute) at Incoraggia- 

 niento di \apoli. It is really a very lonL;-focus micro- 



observe the normal life of an org-anism when, in order 

 to examine it, we are oblitjed to bring- within a fraction 

 of an inch of such an organism an apparatus that can- 

 not fail to frighten it? In order to observe the normal 

 life of microscopic organisms another instrument is, 

 tiierefore, necessarv, a long-focus microscope capable 

 of being used in cases in which the ordinary instru- 

 ment becomes inadequate. It is such an instrument 

 that lias recently been devised by M. De ("iasparis. 

 I he apparatus, therefore, permits of olitaining the com- 

 pletcst luiderstanding possible of the normal life of 

 insects, of the various manifestations of their intelli- 

 gence, of their customs and habits, and of their rcla- 



The Bioscope in Use. 



scope designed, as its name implies, for the study of 

 the phenomena of animal life in all cases in which it is 

 impossible for the observer to get close enough to the 

 object that he is examining without running the risk of 

 misinterpreting what he sees. It is, indeed, well known 

 that the highly-improved and powerful microscope, to 

 which modern science is indebted for most important 

 discoveries, and the value of which is inestimable in 

 certain domains, is becoming inadequate for the pro- 

 secution of some lines of study. It is capable of re- 

 vealing the inmost structure of minute beings that 

 escape our sight, and of counting the number of cells 

 of which they are composed, but it is almost impossi- 

 ble to observe with it the phases of the normal life of 

 such organisms. How, in fact, can we say that we 



tions with each other and the external world, and can- 

 not fail to give the sciences of observation a new im- 

 pulse. It has the advantage over the microscope of 

 not necessitating a knowledge of a special technique, 

 delicate and difficult to acquire. In this respect it puts 

 scientific observation within reach of the amateur, who, 

 as there are many examples to prove, is not to be de- 

 spised. In the field of the bioscope the astonished eye 

 of the observer perceives a new world, a series of 

 scientific surprises. Hatred, anger, joy, and love are 

 depicted in the acts of the infinitely small; the observer 

 distinguishes their weapons and their wounds, and ob- 

 serves their palpitating viscera through their sides, 

 and sees their minute bodies, in the last convulsions of 

 the agonv of death, trembling with a final spasm. The 



