THE MICROSCOPE. 



PAET I. 



HISTORY OF THE INVENTION AND IMPROVEMENTS OF THE 

 MICROSCOPE. 



CHAPTEE I. 



HISTORY OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



HE instrument known as the Microscope de- 

 rives its name from two Greek words, fiiKpos 

 small, and aKo-nriis) to view ; that is, to see or 

 view such minute objects as without its aid 

 would be invisible. 



The invention of the microscope cannot be 

 traced with any degree of certainty before the 

 year 1660,. a period fruitful in discoveries. 

 The honour of the invention is claimed by 

 the Italians and the Dutch ; the name of the 

 inventor, however, is lost. Probably the dis- 

 covery did not at first appear sufficiently im- 

 portant to engage the attention of those men who, by their reputation 

 in science, were able to establish an opinion of its merit with the rest 

 of the world, and to hand down the name of its inventor to succeeding 



It is not difficult to fix the period when the microscope first began 

 to be generally known, and to be used for the purpose of examining 

 minute objects ; for though we are ignorant of the name of the first 

 inventor, we are acquainted with the names of those who. introduced it 

 to public view. Zacharias Jansens and his son are said to have made 

 microscopes before the year 1590 : about that time the ingenious Cor- 



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