THE STUDY OF STRUCTURE. 353 



theoretical science is that afforded by the results 

 which have come to biology through the perfection of 

 the microscope. In no case has an instrument con- 

 tributed more to the deepening of a science. 



It is hardly necessary to point out that the magni- 

 fication of an object does not necessarily mean a 

 better understanding of it, and it must be admitted 

 that there are many results of microscopic analysis 

 which have complexified problems without helping 

 towards their solution; but the historical fact is 

 certain that microscopic analysis has made many 

 biological problems clearer, and has saved us from 

 supposing that the apparent simplicity of others is 

 real. 



Invention of the Compound Microscope. As dis- 

 tinguished from a mere magnifying lens, the mi- 

 croscope is about three centuries old. There is strong 

 evidence that the compound microscope was invented 

 by Galilei about 1610, but there is also evidence in 

 favour of giving credit to Hans and Zacharias Jans- 

 sen, spectacle-makers of Middelburg in Holland, who 

 are said to have made a compound microscope some- 

 time between 1590 and 1609. Huyghens and others 

 have claimed the discovery for Cornelius Drebbel, a 

 Dutchman, about the year 1621, and Fontana, a Nea- 

 politan, claimed that he had made a compound micro- 

 scope in 1618. The case for Galilei seems, on the 

 whole, strongest; but it is probably impossible now 

 to decide with certainty.* 



Early Microscopists. Although many of those 

 who first used the microscope did little more than 

 accumulate magnifications, we must look back grate- 



* See May all, Lectures on the Microscope, London, 1886. 

 The Microscope, Carpenter and Dallinger, London, 1891. 



