236 HOW TO SEE WITH THE MICROSCOPE. 



thority" subsequently insists that the so-called "hand- 

 ling" (?) supposed to be necessary to the use of the 

 wide apertures is simply a myth a downright farce; 

 and that any one possessing a fair quota of intelligence 

 -can easily acquire all that is to be acquired in the work- 

 ing of an adjustL^le glass. Nor need one hunt long or 

 dig very deep to find other " authorities" teaching that 

 all this handling" " although essential to the optician" 

 is r.o manner of use to the practical observer, unless he 

 has so far degenerated as to aspire to the distinction of 

 being simply a " handler " and a " fighter." 



Let the author, then, and in view of the situation as 

 presented, inform those proposing to study the microscope 

 with the intention of becoming in due time accomplished 

 observers, that there is no " royal road " to success ; that 

 to become even so sufficiently expert as to enable one 

 to follow out (leaving original work out of considera- 

 tion) the investigations already made and published by 

 eminent microscopists, will require quite as much effort 

 and study as would be called for in graduating from any 

 college in the United States. The curriculum is a broad 

 one in its very nature, involving a thorough knowledge 

 of instrumentation, and when by means thereof we are 

 enabled to see well, it then becomes a positive necessity 

 to judge well of what is seen, and this in turn can only 

 be well accomplished by those having eyes well trained 

 to the work in hand. There is, moreover, work for the 

 brain outside of the functions of the optic nerve. 



In the micrographic dictionary, by Messrs. Griffith & 

 Henfrey, I find, (page 11,) the following: "Above all. 



