CHAPTER IV 
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE MICROSCOPE AND 
THE PROGRESS OF INDEPENDENT OBSERVATION 
THE introduction of the microscope greatly increased the 
ocular powers of observers, and, in the seventeenth century, 
led to many new departures. By its use the observations 
were carried from the plane of gross anatomy to that of 
minute structure; the anatomy of small forms of life, like in- 
sects, began to be studied, and also the smaller microscopic 
animalcula were for the first time made known. 
Putting aside the disputed questions as to the time of the 
invention and the identity of the inventor of the microscope— 
whether to Fontana, Galileo, or the Jenssens belongs the 
credit—we know that it was improved by the Hollander 
Drebbel in the early years of the seventeenth century, but 
was not seriously applied to anatomical studies till after the 
middle of that century. 
THE PIONEER MICROSCOPISTS 
The names especially associated with early microscopic 
observations are those of Hooke and Grew in England, 
Malpighi in Italy, and Swammerdam and Leeuwenhoek, 
both in Holland. Their microscopes were imperfect, and 
were of two kinds: simple lenses, and lenses in combination, 
forming what we now know as the compound microscope. 
Some forms of these early microscopes will be described and 
illustrated later. Although thus early introduced, micro- 
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