CHAPTER I. 

 INTRODUCTORY. 



CIRCULATING SLIDES THE LITTLE SPECIAL AP- 

 PARATUS NEEDED THE USE OF AN EYEPIECE 

 - FIRST ATTEMPTS. 



Although the sense of sight enables us to see the 

 many forms around us, there is a world as abso- 

 lutely invisible to the unassisted eye as the familiar 

 objects of life are invisible to the blind. To those 

 who have eyesight, however, the microscope bestows 

 as great a power of vision as the gift of sight would 

 bestow upon the blind, for it enables them to pene- 

 trate the secrets of nature's realm, which without 

 such assistance would for ever remain a mystery. 



A very small magnification will often reveal de- 

 tails of construction sufficient to call forth exclama- 

 tions of surprise, and, indeed, with microscopists 

 it is a matter of common knowledge that whole in- 

 sects or parts of plants viewed under a low power 

 will excite more astonishment than the resolution of 

 a difficult diatom under the very highest power. 

 For instance, a spider magnified ten times seems 

 more wonderful to the uninitiated than the mark- 

 ings of Amphipleura pellucida magnified 3,000 



B 



