674 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Microscope ; ho made himself personally acquainted with what was being 
done at Jena, and he may well be said to have been the link between 
English and foreign microscopists of all nations. The large collection 
made by Mr. Crisp was thoroughly well known to him, and he took a 
warm interest in everything that concerned it. 
If his great knowledge of his subject had any drawback, it was one 
that affected him alone adversely ; an inventor of a new instrument 
never likes to be told that much or all is old ; the constructor of a faulty 
one objects to having his errors swiftly exposed. As Mayall was no 
respecter of persons, and perfectly lucid in his criticisms, he was, 
perhaps, a more unpopular man than he really deserved to be. To a 
rare knowledge he added a rare courage. 
The activity of his mind showed itself in his proficiency at games of 
skill, and particularly of chess, but he was hardly less active of body ; 
not only was he a good fencer, but in these days of cycling it must not 
be forgotten that he was the first to ride a bicycle from London to 
Brighton. 
The thoroughness with which he put his hand to do his duty or his 
pleasure was equally evident when he was called upon to serve a friend 
or do a kindness; others beside the present writer must have been 
astonished at the time and trouble he would ungrudgingly devote t 
serve them. 
The anonymous manner in which this Journal is conducted makes it 
impossible for any not “ behind the scenes ” to know how much its success 
has been due to his assistance ; one who does know may sum it up by 
saying that the death of Mayall has deprived him of one of the shrewdest 
counsellors a man may ever hope to meet with in his earthly pilgrimage. 
The student of microscopy will regret that a work just commenced on 
the history of the Microscope will now never see the light. 
We append a list of Mr. Mayall’s papers and inventions: — 
C. Naegeli and S. Schwendener, The Microscope in Theory and 
Practice. Translated from the German. 8vo, London, 1887. 
Immersion Objectives and Test Objects. Monthly Micr. Journ., 
1869, pp. 90-3. 
The Controversy on the Aperture Question. Letters in the Monthly 
Micr. Journ., 1875, pp. 93-7, 150-1, 214-5, 299-301; 1876, pp. 50-1, 
97-100. 
Aperture Measurement of Immersion Objectives. Journ. R. Micr. 
Soc., 1879, pp. 842-3. 
Immersion Illuminators. Journ. R. Micr. Soc., 1879, pp. 27-31. 
Description of Nobert’s Ruling Machine. Journ. Soc. Arts, xxxiii. 
(1885) pp. 707-15. 
Cantor Lectures before the Society of Arts, 1886, 1888, 1889. 
Published in Journ. Soc. Arts, xxxiv., xxxvi., and xxxvii. 
An account of his visit to Jena. Journ. R. Micr. Soc., 1887, 
pp. 322-5. 
Various Papers on Microscopy and Microscopical subjects published 
in the ‘ English Mechanic * under his nom de plume of E.R.M.S. 
He also devised and improved the following, of which notices were 
published : — 
Immersion Stage Illuminator. Journ. R. Micr. Soc., 1879, pp. 837-8. 
