108 THE AMEKICAN MONTHLY [May, 



tim of misrepresentation, to say the least. It needs no special training 

 to enable one to distinguish between fibres of cotton, wool, linen, and 

 silk. It can be done at a glance as you will be able to see in one of the 

 exhibits here to-night. 



Again, to turn from the outer to the inner man, we will say that you 

 are fond of the " cup that cheers," and that you will have no tea but 

 the best. You pay a fancy price for tea which you are assured is the 

 genuine article. You steep a few of the leaves and examine their ser- 

 rations under the microscope. A little practice will enable you to dis- 

 tinguish the tea-leaf from those of the camellia, black currant, or willow, 

 w^hich are the more common adulterants. A little further manipulation 

 will enable you detect the " stone cells," characteristic also of the tea- 

 leaf One of our honored members. Dr. Taylor, has latelj^ been giving 

 a great deal of attention to this subject, and has examined it with his 

 accustomed thoroughness. 



In his exhibit to-night you may see under the microscope genuine 

 tea and the more common adulterants. With a little experience you 

 may apply proper tests to mustard, coffee, butter, and many other arti- 

 cles of daily consumption. I will not take up your time to enumerate 

 other instances, as it seems to me that these two are sufficient to meet 

 the objection that the microscope is not a practical instrument. 



Turning from this side of the question, let us look for a moment at 

 the microscope as a source of amusement and relaxation. 



The tired business man or weary clerk, after a hard day's work, takes 

 down his microscope and in a moment he is in another world. The 

 cares of business are forgotten and the exhausted brain is rested and re- 

 freshed. A drop of stagnant water will afford you employment for all 

 the time you have to spare. If any one of you will try to identify and 

 study each and every microscopic plant and animal he may see in a few 

 drops of ditch water, you will find your labors stretch over months in- 

 stead of days. 



And right here let me disabuse your minds of the current impression 

 that the purest water will, when viewed under the microscope, be found 

 swarming with animal life and peopled with strange and hideous mon- 

 sters. As a matter of fact, pure vv^ater is absolutely free from animal 

 or vegetable matter. Even the ubiquitous microbe and bacterium are 

 wanting. But there is enough microscopic richness in a sample of stag- 

 nant pond water to satisfy the most ardent investigator. Then there are 

 the common house-fly, the insects and butterflies which we see by day, 

 and the busy mosquito which we hear at night, any one of which will 

 aflbrd material for many hours of work and pleasure. There are, in 

 fact, thousands of objects literally within reach of our hands. 



It is possible that, in the course of your general and purposeless use 

 of the microscope, you may gradually be led into some special line of 

 study. Should this be the case you may be able to make original and 

 valuable observations and contribute your mite toward increasing the 

 sum of human knowledge. I speak within the truth when I say that in 

 no branch of science has the field been anything like thoroughly culti- 

 vated, and there is hardly one of them in which the microscope is not, 

 in some way, useful. You will see, therefore, that there are abundant 

 opportunities in many lines of work for the conscientious investigator. 



Do not, however, make your field too narrow. You will all recol- 



