1882.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



206 



the firm of Smith & Beck (established 

 in London by Mr. Lister's help), and 

 is now, with various modifications of 

 detail, almost universally followed in 

 the construction of all save the smal- 

 lest and simplest microscopes, as well 

 in this country as in Great Britain. 



Being personally cognizant of every- 

 thing I have now stated to you, I 

 have thought that it might be of in- 

 terest to you to hear it direct from 

 myself ; and have only in conclusion 

 to offer you my cordial thanks for 

 the very kind welcome I have re- 

 ceived from you, and my best wishes 

 for the continued success of your 

 Society. 



o 



Abstract of the Address of Pro- 

 fessor Albert H. Tuttle.* 



It is my esteemed and honorable 

 privilege to preside over the first ses- 

 sion of this body held with its present 

 organization and standing as an inde- 

 pendent Section of the Association. 



In assuming the duties and the 

 honors conferred upon me, I find my 

 mind reverting to the antecedents of 

 this Section and the days of its begin- 

 nings. Some, at least, among you, 

 will recall with me the daily gather- 

 ing of a little company in an out-of-' 

 the-way room during the Salem meet- 

 ing of the American Association in 

 1869, to which the name of "the Sub- 

 section of Microscopy" was first 

 given. 



Long shall I remember the sessions 

 of that meeting, half formal, half in- 

 formal. There we debated (or listened 

 while others debated) gravely whether 

 or no the " nineteenth band" had re- 

 ally been resolved. We triumphed 

 unitedly in the clearness of the de- 

 monstration by one of the more ex- 

 pert of our number of the " basket- 

 work " upon Surirella gemma, — ulti- 

 ma thule then, to us of test-objects ; and 

 some of us, at least, looked for the 

 first time, at and through what was 



* Delivered before the Section of Histology 

 and Microscopy of the A. A. A. S., at Mon- 

 treal, t 



for US the crowning wonder of the day 

 — aWenham binocular! We discussed 

 there in simple faith the merits and 

 demerits of *' that quality in an objec- 

 tive we termed penetration" with- 

 out a shadow of doubt as to whether 

 we agreed as to what wfe meant by the 

 expression, or any dream of the lat- 

 ter day scepticism as to the very 

 existence of the " quality " we so 

 earnestly discussed. We listened 

 eagerly while the late Mr, Bicknell 

 described the method by which he 

 made his then unrivalled injections, 

 the open secret of which appeared to 

 be, when all was told, that the way to 

 make good injections (or good any- 

 thing else) was to take each step intel- 

 ligently, carefully and correctly ; and 

 we gazed withinterest, if not with ad- 

 miration, at a demonstration which 

 some who were present then will per- 

 haps recall, of how a microscope can 

 be made to serve as almost anything 

 that it was not intended to be, if you 

 only modify it sufficiently, and add 

 pieces enough. 



If microscopes were not as numer- 

 ous then as now, neither were they as 

 easily to be had. In that day he who 

 wanted to buy a microscope had to 

 hunt for it. To-day I had almost 

 said that a man must be rather ingen- 

 ious to avoid buying half a dozen. 

 Then, he who wished an instrument 

 from a foreign workshop had to make 

 it the subject of a special order ; to- 

 day half a dozen importers carry ex- 

 tensive stocks of the instruments most 

 Likely to be in demand. Then, as re- 

 gards American-made microscopes, 

 if a stand was wanted, the buyer look- 

 ed (and not unwisely) first of all, to a 

 little shop in Philadelphia where la- 

 bored and still labors — long may he 

 do so — one the thoroughness and 

 fidelity of whose handiwork alone en- 

 able him still to hold his own against 

 a score of competitors, who by hand 

 and by steam are putting yearly upon 

 the market countless instruments of 

 every conceivable plan and of all 

 grades of excelknce. If one sought 



