PEEFACE. 



To open the path to the myriad wonders of creation, 

 which, altogether unseen by the unassisted eye, are 

 made cognisable to sight by the aid of the Microscope, 

 is the aim and scope of this volume. Great and 

 gorgeous as is the display of Divine power and wisdom 

 in the things that are seen of all, it may safely be 

 affirmed that a far more extensive prospect of these 

 glories lay unheeded and unknown till the optician's 

 art revealed it. Like the work of some mighty genie 

 of Oriental fable, the brazen tube is the key that un- 

 locks a world of wonder and beauty before invisible, 

 which one who has once gazed upon it can never for- 

 get, and never cease to admire. 



This volume contains but a gleaning: the author 

 has swept rapidly across the vast field of marvels, 

 snatching up a gem here and there, and culling one 

 and another of the brilliant blossoms of this flowery 



