4 



Microscopical Essays. 



in fome inflances be fubftituted for them. The two principal rea- 

 fons which fupport this opinion are, fir ft, the minutenefs of fome 

 ancient pieces of workmanfhip, which are to be met with in the 

 cabinets of the curious : the parts of fome of thefe are fo fmall, 

 that it does not appear at prefent how they could have been ex- 

 ecuted without the ufe of magnifying glaffes, or of what ufe they 

 could have been when executed, unlefs they were in pofleffion of 

 glaffes to examine them with. A remarkable piece of this kind, 

 a feal with very minute work, and which to the naked eye appears 

 very confufed and indiflincl;, but beautiful when examined with a 

 proper lens, is defcribed * Dans 1'Hiftoire de l'Academie des 

 Infcriptions," torn. 1. p. 333. The fecond argument is founded 

 on a great variety of paffages, that are to be feen in the works of 

 Jamblichus, Pliny, Plutarch, Seneca, Agellius, Pifidias, &c. From 

 thefe paflages it is evident that they were enabled by fome inflxu- 

 ment, or other means, not only to view diftant objecls, but alfo to 

 magnify fmall ones ; for if this is not admitted, the paflages appear 

 abfurd, and not capable of having a rational meaning applied to 

 them. I (hall only adduce a fhort paflage from Pifidias, a chrif- 

 tian writer of the feventh century, Ta pLzXhovTCL ^i<mlp& 

 cv &Xs7r£iq' "You fee things future by a dioptrum now we 

 know of nothing but a prospective glafs or fmall telefcope, where- 

 by things at a diflance may be feen as if they were near at hand, 

 the circumftance on which the fimile was founded. It is alfo 

 clear, that they were acquainted with, and did make ufe of that 

 kind of microfcope, which is even at this day commonly fold m 

 our ftreets by the Italian pedlars, namely, a glafs bubble filled 

 with water. Seneca plainly affirms it, Liter ce quamvis minutes 

 et obfeurce, per vitream pilam aqua pknam, major es clariorefque 

 cemmtuv." Nat. Oueefi. lib. 1, cap. 7. "Letters, though minute 



