PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 



The American Edition of Dr. Carpenter's "Work has been 

 reprinted with the Author's sanction, from advance sheets fur- 

 nished by him to the American publishers. In assuming the 

 supervision of the press, tlie Editor has been careful to leave the 

 work as it came from the Author's hands. Such additions as 

 seemed most required by the Students of this country have been 

 made in the form of an Appendix. The reader M'ill find Dr. 

 Carpenter's reasons for omitting the Clinical Applications of 

 the Microscope, fully detailed in his Preface ; but as the various 

 works on this subject are not readily accessible on this side of 

 the Atlantic, it was thought that a selection from them, in a 

 compendious form, might enhance the usefulness of the work. 

 Free use has been made, therefore, of the excellent manuals of 

 Beale and Bennett ; and the various kindred treatises and jour- 

 nals have also been drawn upon. All that this portion of the 

 work claims is to present a general view of those subjects which 

 seem to be most required by the student of the Microscope. 

 The growing interest in this important field of inquiry will, 

 it is hoped, afford sufiicient apology for its introduction. 



