Microscope Teachings. 427 



they are to their neighbours, and the less serviceable their 

 minds become to themselves. They do not, properly speaking, 

 know anything, because reflection has never been cultivated, 

 and their imaginations have grown dull under a cumbrous load 

 of ill-assorted materials. Widely different is the result of real 

 teaching, whether its lessons are communicated orally, or reach 

 the student through the medium of books. This is always con- 

 ducive to mental growth and health, whatever form it takes, but 

 perhaps never more so than when it charms the eye and the 

 fancy with scenes of beauty from the world of nature, and 

 extracts its lessons of wisdom from objects that gleam upon us 

 from the heavens, or surround us on the earth. The advanced 

 students of nature, if fitted for their work, are in the position 

 depicted by Wordsworth in his Prelude. Without wrongful 

 egotism they may exclaim, 



" What we hare loved 

 Others will love, and we will teach them how ;" 



and it is indeed a noble task to be the pioneers and guides into 

 regions of truth and loveliness, infinite in their variety, peren- 

 nial in their charm. 



To the Hon. Mrs. Ward must be assigned an excellent 

 place among these pioneers and guides. In her Telescope 

 Teachings she has provided an admirable beginning for astro- 

 nomical study, and her work on the microscope is by far the 

 best that has been produced for the particular object its author 

 had in view. It is, as befits an introduction to a delightful 

 branch of practical science, an elegant book, enjoying all the 

 advantages of excellent paper, large type, beautiful coloured 

 plates, and handsome binding. The moment it makes its 

 appearance in a civilized family there will be a rush towards it, 

 and it will seldom fail to convert its readers into microscopists 

 if they can obtain an instrument to work with as it directs. 



Microscope Teachings is divided into twelve chapters, the 

 two first giving very clear and useful information on micro- 

 scopes, and the various processes and precautions necessary for 

 their use. This will prove valuable to many purchasers of 

 instruments, who often experience bitter disappointment after 

 the optician has sent their instrument home, because no one is 

 at hand to explain the details of manipulation, without which 

 nothing but failure can arise. With Mrs. Ward's book they 

 would make no mistakes, and her advice would guide thern 

 wisely in the selection of an instrument according to the expen- 

 diture they wished to make. Beginners should not be caught 

 by the glittering appearance of a new microscope, and the 

 number of articles supplied for a given sum. What they want 

 is " that the microscope shows objects clearly, and is perfectly 



