494 
POPULAE SCIENCE EEVIEW. 
THE MICEOSCOPE * 
N O country has yet been able to compete with this in the manufacture 
of first-class achromatic microscopes. The German, French, and 
American instruments are all good of their kind, but none of them equal, 
in point of mechanical solidity, optical power, or clearness, those of the 
first London makers. Some attribute this to the greater love of microscopical 
research which Englishmen display; but such a notion is, we fear, incorrect. 
It may be due to the greater wealth of this country which enables us to 
encourage those who spend their energies in the improvement of microscopical 
apparatus, or the superior mechanical skill of English artisans may be the 
cause ; but to whatever it is attributable, the result is unquestionable that 
our microscopes are superior to the foreign ones. Conspicuous among those 
who have taken the lead as microscopic opticians stands the firm of Smith, 
Beck, and Beck. These makers have been awarded an infinite number of 
medals and certificates for the cheapness and excellence of their instnunents, 
and all those who are familiar wdth their manufacture must admit its high 
merit. Some years ago, when the public had to choose between an inferior 
instrument at a low price and a first-class one at a very high cost, micro- 
scopic pursuits were rather unpopular, and the microscope was a sort of 
curiosity to be found only in the study of the physician or the laboratory of 
the philosopher. At this period Messrs. Smith and Beck stepped into the 
field, and endeavoured to supply the “ happy medium ” in microscopic 
apparatus, which should make histology a popular study. With what success 
their efforts were attended all those who know anything of microscopy are 
well aware. For years past these makers have supplied the public with in- 
struments which, while sold at a low price, fulfil all the wants of the student 
and the original investigator. They have not sought by an undue appeal to 
lacquer, and clap-trap appliances to catch the eye of the amateur, but have 
been, as far as our experience enables us to judge, desirous of furnishing 
sound and useful apparatus at a cost which leaves them fair remuneration. 
Although their “ universal ” microscope is one we do not much admire, there 
can be little doubt that their “ student’s ” instruments are all that can be 
desired for the purposes of ordinary investigation. The book which Mr. E. 
Beck has written is little more than a very handsome catalogue of micro- 
scopies and their appliances sold by the firm, and although it must not be 
regarded as a treatise on the microscope generally, it will be found exceedingly 
useful as a book of reference by all those who empffoy Messrs. Smith and 
Beck’s instruments. 
sf « A Treatise on the Construction, Proper Use, and Capabilities of Smith, 
Beck, and Beck’s Achromatic Microscopes.'’ By Eichard Beck. London : 
Van Voorst. 1865. 
