12 THE MICROSCOPE. 



I should be glad to be shewn any new specimens that any membei' 

 may find now or hereafter, aa I am forming a catalogae of the local 

 species. 



Nets and bottles then made their appearance, and a good 

 collection of shells, &c., was procured among the members. 

 Among them were — Lymnoea Ihnosa, L. palustris, Succmea 

 gracilis, Bythinia tentaculata, B. Leachii, Planorhis complanatus, 

 Cyclas ovalis, with fragments of Anodonta cygnea, and var. 

 anatina. 



Several new members were added. 



SOIREE, MAY 13th. 



A microscopical soiree was held at the President's residence, 

 at which about forty members were present. Fifteen micro- 

 scopes were provided for the occasion, all well supplied with 

 objects. The President read the following paper on 



THE MICROSCOPE: 



The microscope is an instrument of great antiquity; indeed, there 

 is no doubt that it was in use in its simplest form — namely, a globe of 

 glass filled with water, at a period long antecedent to the birth of 

 Christ. Seneca and Pliny, both of whom were born at the commence- 

 ment of the Christian era, mention lenses made with glass or water ; 

 and Ptolemy speaks of magnifying glasses and refraction in his work 

 on Optics. This, however, was the microscope in its most primitive 

 and simple form — a single lens of glass or water. It was not until the 

 middle of the 17th century that the compound microscope, consisting 

 of a combination of lenses, came into limited use ; these microscopes 

 were large, unwieldy tubes, with the objects fixed in them. Very un- 

 familiar instruments they must have been, for we read about this time 

 of a travelling philosopher who fell ill with fever and died in a certain 

 town. The municipal authorities examined his efiects, and found an 

 immense brass tube, some six feet long, which on peeping into they 

 found to contain his familiar demon, an immense monster of a very 

 " uncanny" appearance. Of course, the philosopher was refused 

 Christian burial ; and it was not until some time had elapsed that an 

 adventurous burgess, who had succeeded in unscrewing the end of the 



