Tht Microscope. 359 



To FIND THE Magnitude of a Minute Object. The 

 most correct and readiest way on all occasions to find the magni- 

 tude of an object, is to take a piece of glass, divided into any 

 number of parts, or lines, of 100 or 200 to the inch; it may be 

 placed on the stage, and a drop of water, or any other object put 

 upon it. Find what proportion the object bears to the space 

 within the two lines, and if it take the whole space, it is one or 

 two-hundredth part of an inch, according to the scale. 



The Works of Art and Nature compared together. 

 Upon examining the edge of a very sharp razor, it will appear as 

 broad as the back of a knife, and full of notches. The point of 

 a small needle, though extremely fine to the naked eye, will ap- 

 pear through the microscope full of holes and scratches; but the 

 sting of a bee, viewed with the same, will appear beautiful, with- 

 out a flaw or blemish. A piece of fine muslin, or lawn appears 

 like a coarse lattice, and the threads like ropes; the same with 

 fine lace; but the thread of a silkworm or the web of a spider, 

 will appear perfectly smooth. The .smallest dot made with a 

 pen appears a vast irregular spot, rough and jagged. Thus sink 

 the works of art; but in those of nature, even in her meanest 

 productions, nothing will be found but beauty and perfection. 



What we know at present of things near and familiar is so lit- 

 tle, that there remains a boundless space for our inquiries and 

 discoveries in the works of nature; and the more we inquire into 

 them, the more comprehensive and just will be our ideas of the 

 power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator. 



The following is a list of the principal objects which afford 

 the highest entertainment and instruction by the microscope. 

 They may be divided into the following classes, viz: 



I. Such as have their whole body, form, and parts magnified and 

 exhibited in one microscopic view; as 



The Louse; the Flea; the Bug; the Mite; the Eels in Paste, 

 Vinegar, etc. the Animalcules in Fluids; very small Fhes and In- 

 sects of all sorts; the smallest kinds of Plants, Mosses, Mouldi- 

 ness, etc. 



II. The small parts of animals, viz: 



The Hair of the Head, Horse Hair, Mouse Hair, Hog's Bris- 

 tles, etc. the Human Cuticle, or Scarf Skin; the Papillae Pyra- 

 midales in the Skin; the Fibrillae of Muscles, Nerves, etc. the 

 Ramification of Arteries and Veins; the Lymphseducts, Lacteals, 

 and other fine Vessels; the Blood, etc. the Circulation of the 

 Blood in the Fins of Fishes, the Tails of Tadpoles, and of Wa- 



