The microscope: its history, construction, and application : being a familiar introduction to the use of the instrument and the study of microscopical sciences / by Jabez Hogg.

  • Jabez Hogg
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The microscope: its history, construction, and application : being a familiar introduction to the use of the instrument and the study of microscopical sciences / by Jabez Hogg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    The zoologist finds in the Microscope a necessary co- operator. To the geologist it reveals, among a multiplicity of other facts, “ that our large coal-beds are the ruins of a gigantic vegetation ; and the vast limestone rocks, which are so abundant on the earth’s surface, are the catacombs of myriads of animal tribes, too minute to bo perceived by the unaided vision.” By “ conducting the eye to the confines of the visible form,” the Microscope proves an effective auxiliary in defining the geometric properties of bodies. Its' influence as an instrument of research upon the structure of bodies has been compared to that of the galvanic battery, in the hands of Davy, upon Chemistry. It detects the smallest structural difference, heretofore inappreciable, and, as an ally of Chemistry, enables us to discover the very small changes of form and colour effected by test-fluids upon solids ; and dissects for us, so to .speak, the most multiplex compounds. It opens out to the mind an extended and vast tract, opulent in wonders, rich in beauties, and bound- less in extent. The ]\£icroscope not only assists studies, and develops objects of profound interest, but also opens up uinumer- able sources of entertainment and amusement, in the ordinary conventional accejjtation of these terms;—dis- closing to us peculiarities and attractions in abundance;— impressing us with the wonderful and beautifully-skilful adaptation of all parts of creation, and filling our minds with additional reverence and admiration for the beneficent and Almighty Creator. The Author will conclude these prefatory observations with a few words in explanation of his arrangements, and by way of acknowledgment to those to whom he is indebted. He has sought, in the volume that he now lays before the public, to point out and elucidate at once in a