HOW TO BEGIN 31 



so is it with regard to the beauties of Nature. 

 Numberless objects, affording exhaustless gratifica- 

 tion, may be studied, and that successfully, with very 

 inexpensive magnifiers. It is a significant fact, that 

 a large number of those persons who look into even 

 ordinary microscopes for the first time, and see 

 marvellous objects developed in unexpected beauty, 

 become enraptured, and often strain every point, if 

 need be, in order to become purchasers of the instru- 

 ment which has the power of revealing such wonders. 

 Hence it is that there are thousands of microscopes 

 in use now for the one of former days. It will be 

 a good time for the young people of England when 

 the microscope is looked upon as a necessity in the 

 home, for it will make the family circle more at- 

 tractive, and will supply plenty of employment for 

 the winter evenings. 



Our knowledge of Nature, meagre as it is, would 

 be much more defective were it not for the micro- 

 scope. Many of the hidden beauties we are to notice 

 in these pages are on the borderland of our vision, 

 and some are too small to be seen with unassisted 

 sight. Human vision is limited in several directions, 

 notably in our power to measure distances on the one 

 hand, and to see minute things on the other. A com- 

 pensating power is graciously given to us, and that 

 power we may call intelligence. By it we can think 

 out, and invent, and construct a telescope that will 

 add a thousand-fold to the range of our vision as 

 regards distance. And we are enabled by this same 



