ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 485 



"In expressing myself so decisively and emphatically upon the 

 subject of American Microscopes, I have not considered it necessary to 

 give a detailed discussion of the relative merits and demerits of the 

 different makes, because what I have expressed is the opinion, in these 

 matters, of all the competent judges with whom I have talked on the 

 subject. 



" I know positively that many of the best scientific men of America 

 are ready to join me in saying, as I said at the beginning, that there is 

 no American Microscope which we should like to buy at any price for 

 our own use." 



In reply to some comments * to which his article gave rise, Dr. 

 Minot wrote as follows f : — 



" The object of my letter in ' Science ' was to direct attention to a 

 special need which I believe to exist in this country. This need is one 

 which has arisen in consequence of the introduction of the Microscope 

 as an aid to the educational courses of American colleges and medical 

 schools. There the requirement is that the Microscope shall be as 

 inexpensive as possible. Now, a Microscope must fulfil one in- 

 dispensable requiremeut, it must be optically good. If the lenses are 

 inferior, the value of the instrument is excessively diminished. 



" Pretty much all the other qualities of the Microscope may vary 

 without affecting anything but the convenience of the Microscope. It 

 is therefore evident that it is solely in regard to the stand that the 

 economy must be effected. I hold, therefore, that the ideal student's 

 Microscope must have the simplest construction possible, and that 

 nothing should be added to it which can be left out, and still leave the 

 instrument sufficiently convenient for actual use. The hinged joint for 

 tilting, the rack and pinion, and the iris diaphragm all increase the 

 expense of the Microscope, and yet do not add anything indispensable. 



" In Germany Microscopes are very little used by amateurs, but are 

 extensively used by scientific investigators and students ; accordingly, 

 we find the stands which are made in that country adapted to the 

 demand. A similar demand has arisen in this country, and will probably 

 grow, and I should suppose that it would be for the interest of American 

 manufacturers to meet this demand rather than to leave the market to 

 European makers without competition." 



Buffalo Microscopical Club. 



[Protest against Prof. Minot's article on American Microscopes, supra, p. 482.] 



The Microscope, VIII. (1888) pp. 55-6. 

 Henrict, J. F. — Recently-discovered Microscopes of historic interest. 



[Describes and figures two Microscopes — (1) cf. post; (2) a Culpeper, "the 

 exact counterpart in every particular of one figured in plate iv. of Adams's 

 ' Essays on the Microscope ' (1787)," with the addition of a rack and pinion 

 for focusing.] 



The Microscope, VIII. (1888) pp. 97-9 (2 figs.). 

 Scott, G. P. — [Exhibition of a Microscope.] 



[" This Microscope possesses many ingenious appliances connected witli the 

 body, the stage, and the substage of this instrument. Especially noticeable 

 among these are the contrivances by which, with a quarter revolution, the 

 polarizer, the selenite, and the analyser of the polarizing apparatus can 

 instantly be brought into use or turned to one side, so as to avoid all inter- 

 ference with the examination of an object by ordinary light."! 



Journ. N. York Micr. Soc., IV. (1888) p. 120. 



* Cf. inter alia Queen's Micr. Bull., iv. (18S7) pp. 41-3 ; also v. (1888) p. 4. 

 t Queen's Micr. Bull., v. (1888) p. 8. 



