268 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
THE ItllCROSCOPE AND ITS REVELATIONS. 
From the introduction to a new work entitled '■'■The 
?>Iicro$co'pi$Vs Companion,^' we make the following inter- 
esting extracts : 
“ The microscope opens to the observer a new and un- 
expected world, full of beauty, perfection, and magnifi 
cence ; in a single drop of the water it presents to the as- 
tonished vision, living creatures, of most beautiful and 
varied forms, entirely unlike all former conceptions of or- 
ganic existence, and so extremely minute that it would 
require from twenty-five thousand to eighty millions to 
fill the narrow space of one square inch. And yet, as 
small as they are, the nv oscope reveals to us their ex- 
istence, their spontaneo motion, and their external and 
internal structures ; it a makes known the fact that 
these minute living being i,re extremely reproductive, and 
“constitute the chief proportion of living bodies- upon the 
face of the earth.” They a"t found not only in the fresh, 
water ofponds, brooks, s, and lakes, but even in the 
salty waters of the great -^-ep, in some strong acids, in 
terraqueous matter, ana in vegetable and animal fluids: 
indeed, there is no p i of the world, either upon its ex- 
ternal surface, or intv tally, but in which these microsco- 
pic beings can be for d, either in a living or fossil state. 
The mortar of the builder, the chalky cliffs of Albion, ex- 
tensive tracts of country in various parts of the world, as 
well as chains of mountains, the coral foundation of the 
Polynesian Archipela oes, of the reefs and islets of the 
Indian Ocean, as vi :;ri as many other places, beside slate, 
flint, sandstone, limestc ne, rocks, &c , all contain, and 
are, in fact, chiefly cora'^'osed of the remains of once liv- 
ing, invisible animalcuics. Of the myriads upon my- 
riads of organized beings created to work out the grand 
designsof Providence, all calculation seems futile; as the 
results would be far beyond the grasp of human compre- 
hension, And the remains of these minute animals have 
added much more to the mass of materials which comprise 
the experior crust of the globe, than the bones of elephants, 
mammoths, hippoptami and whales, 
“But the microscope does not terminate its utility here ; 
it is equally necessary and useful to the geologist, the 
botanist, the mineralogist, the chemist and the physician. 
To the latter in particular, it has demonstrated the mi- 
nute structure of parts of the human system, which were 
previously altogether a mystery, and has assisted in af- 
fording a more perfect comprehension of the organic func- 
tions. The structure of the various parts- of the system 
has, within a few years past, been thoroughly and cor- 
rectly made known by the aid of this mighty instrument, 
so that no man can, at the present day, hold the title of a 
‘respectable physician,’ who is not conversant with its 
revelations. Nor has its value ceased with a knowledge 
of the healthy structure ; it affords a certainty in the diag- 
nosis or detection of diseases, several of which cannot be 
correctly determined without it. 
“It is no less useful to the non-professional man, and 
to the community in general, who, by its employment, may 
frequently learn certain unhealthy conditions of the sys- 
tem, without having immediate recourse to a physician. 
Thus, the character of urine, as known by its uric acid, 
its urates, phosphates, exalate of lime, blood-corpuscles, 
&c.,^as seen under the microscope, may enable an indi- 
vidual to become aware of changes taking place in the 
system not consistent with health, at a very early period 
even before any appreciable symptoms have developed 
themselves, and thus afford him information which v.;^iil 
lead him to adopt a proper course of treatment long before 
the attack becomes serious or of a permanent nature. Pm- 
gravings of the most common appearances of the urinary 
deposits under the microscope, are given in the work to 
which the reader is referred. 
“The non-professional man may also ascertain that 
many diseases of the skin depend upon, or are accompan- 
ied with microscopic vegetable growth, of a fungous or 
algous character, as ring-worm of the scalp, dow-worm, 
some aphthous ulcerations of the throat, mouth, &c., and 
that other diseases again, are accompanied with micro- 
scopic animals, as the itch, acarus folliculorum, &c. The 
globules of blood seen under the microscope, appear as 
numerous ‘pale, and red, rough, bi-concave discs, having 
a tendency to turn upon their edges, and to arrange them- 
selves in rolls like rouleax of coins ; a very few white 
corpuscles, irregular in form, granular in surface, and 
rather larger than the red globules, will also be readily 
distinguished.’ To discover whether any stain consists 
of blood, it must be moistened with some white of egg, 
then scraped off the material holding the stain, and ex- 
amined under the microscope ; if the stain conisists of 
blood, blood-corpuscles, as above described, will be dis- 
tinctly visible. In this manner, in supposed cases of 
murder, may we distinguish between blood stains, and 
red spots resembling blood. 
“Beside the above named applications of the micro- 
scope, there are others of still more importance to the 
community as the detection of alulterations in food and 
dyrugs. A writer observes, ‘to such a pitch of refinement 
has the art of falsification of alimentary substances reached 
that the very articles used to adulterate are adulterated. 
And while one tradesman is picking the pockets of his 
customers, a still more cunning rogue is unknown to him- 
self, deep in his own ! 
“The manner in which food is adulterated is., not only- 
one of degree but of kind. T^e most simple of all sophis- 
tications, and that which is the most harmless, is the mix- 
ture of inferior qualities of the same substance. * * * 
Secondly, the mixture of cheaper articles ofianother kind ; 
thirdly, the surreptitious introduction of materials which, 
taken in large quantities are prejudicial to health ; and 
fourthly, the admixture of the most deadly poisons in 
order to improve the appearance of the article ‘doctored.’ 
“The microscope alone is capable of detecting at one 
operation the nature and extent of the more harmless but 
general of these fauds. It distinguishes with unerring 
nicety an admixture of the common Circuma arrow 
root with the finer Maranta ; it detects genuine ground 
coffee, from its adulteration with peas, beans, oats, dried 
bones, oak or mahogany, saw-dust, &c.; determines the 
presence of mildew in flour; of turmeric and flour in mus- 
tard ; of red lead in cayenne peper ; of water, chalk, calves 
brains, molasses, annato, flour, oxide of iron, &c., in 
milk, as well as the richness of milk ; it exposes fraudu- 
lent mixtures of lard with butter ; of Prussian blue, tur- 
meric, chalk, and copperas in green tea; of gum, black 
lead, Dutch pink, and leaves of other plants in black tea ; 
of roasted wheat, beans, carrots, parsnips, horsechesnuts, 
oxide of iron, baked horse’s liver, &c , in chicory ; and of 
wheat flour, hundreds of sugar insects, sand, and albumen 
of bullock’s blood in sugar. Impurities in butter, bread, 
cheese, molasses, spices, vinegar, and other necessaries 
of life may at once be detected by this powerful instru- 
ment, so that as a saving to the pocket as well as to the 
health, it should form a part of the domestic apparatus of 
every family. 
“The most useful and fascinating study, is that belong- 
ing to a microscopic observation, and it is much to be re- 
gretter that means have not been heretofore employed to 
introduce its charms and value into the homes of the 
people — to their firesides. A more valuable gift from 
fcU'her to son, from husband to wife, from friend to friend, 
than that of a microscope, cannot be made ; for, unlike 
any other instrument, it can bestow upon its possessor, 
amusements, profit, instruction, health, and happiness. 
Its astonishing and magnificent revelations are of so be- 
witching a nature, that the parent, the son, or the man of 
