Practical microscopy / by George E. Davis.

  • George E. Davis
Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Practical microscopy / by George E. Davis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    experiments in a rational manner, as often as fresh problems are presented to him. Again, no inexpensive work upon practical microscopy brings the subject down to the present time; this and other minor details urged us to cut out a path for ourselves, and produce a treatise which might be of use to the student. In using the microscope as a means of gaining an insight into the anatomy or life-history of forms only faintly distinguished by the unassisted eye, the student must be prepared to exercise a certain amount of patience; skill in manipulation comes by practice only, and before commencing with any investigation, all preconceived notions should be cast aside, the observer being guided chiefly by the results of his own observations. Isolated observations should never be considered con- clusive ; experiments require frequent repetition under very varying conditions before we can accept the results as true interpretations of what we have actually seen. We should also be careful to take into account the degree of perfection of our instruments as well as our own capability of vision ; what one observer will see, another will fail to detect, and if any preconceived notions exist, the observations are sure to be moulded after the same fashion. Expertness in microscopy is only to be attained by study and practice, and as it is necessary, in order to progress, that we take up the subject where our predecessors left off, it is necessary to become acquainted with what has been done previously, and this may be arrived at by the perusal of old standard works upon the science, such as those of Baker, Pritchard, and Goring, or the more recent work of Mr. Quekett’s, u The Practical Treatise on the Use of the Microscope.” These works, though old, are valuable, and the executive of every microscopical society should endeavour to secure a copy of each for its library.