THE MICROSCOPE.
May 1, 1866.]
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. THE
MICROSCOPE.
"WALTER ABBEY, M.R.C.S. The study of Medicine, developing as it does the perceptive powers of the mind, naturally gives a bias towards the Sciences. A retrospective glance tells this of the past, and no argument We do not always is needed to prove it of the present time. Br
readily acknowledge that Medicine, per se, is not a Science, an essentially empirical art. True, it owes much to Science, but so also does shoe-making or candle-making. The most scientific practitioner is not necessarily the most successful one, although, when other things are equal, he greatly weighs down the mere empiric. Neither is Medicine in these days necessarily a "learned profession." For the successful practice of the art, it is no longer necessary to know more of Latin than the rudiments, if even so much; nor will the iEsculapian stand convicted of ignorance, because the volumes of Celsus and Hippocrates stand with uncut pages upon his book-shelves. As a profession, Medicine has never been held in equal honour with Law, Divinity, or Arms. Nor is this surprising. It is well for inaugural lectures to expatiate on the dignity and privileges of the healing art, and the disinterestedness and learning of its but
Professors.
Doubtless it has its amenities and humanities ; but
all know that it entails much that is
we
means
repulsive,
and
by
no
consonant with
dignity. the profession,
The members of as a class, are not wanting in philanthropy; but all the world knows that when they have achieved a competency, they do not scruple to cease from doing good, and to beat their pestles into pruning hooks. Efforts have lately been made to maintain the general status of the profession by rendering compulsory a more or les3 perfect literary education. These means, however, are scarcely sufficient at a time when education is so universally diffused. It seems to lis
that Science is the most natural and efficient characteristic of profession. Everywhere we see that Medical men are the
the
foremost
exponents becoming as
of Natural
Science,
and
that the Sciences
essential to a liberal education as are the Classics. In these Sciences of observation there is work for all. It is not necessary to be deeply versed in mathematics, nor to be saturated with the learning of the ancients: the humblest student may confidently hope to contribute something towards are
the
general stock Here, in India,
of
knowledge.
Science has not hitherto seemed to flourish. It may be that men, after toiling through the hot day, are too intent on cheroots and the consolatory "peg," to care about investing a worth of brain in anything that does not terial interest on their money. And yet, in a
rupee's
promise macountry where Medical men, as a rule, have much more leisure than at home, and are more liable to be afflicted with ennui, it might be supposed that even intellectual occupation would be welcome, when it is amusing as well as useful. "We wish to commend to our readers the use of the Microscope. Small in compass, singularly perfect, and comparatively inexpensive, this universal implement of the Sciences is capable of opening up, even to the uninitiated, For the student it a ?Rorld of wonder and amusement. multiplies those powers of vision without which intellect were useless, reveals fresh laws of nature, and elucidates those already surmised at. All is beautiful, nothing unsightly, when seen under the Microscope. The delicately-bred young girl, full of antipathies, but not knowing what she is looking at, will exclaim: What an exquisite, fairy-like little creature! as she bows her head over the magnified form of an odious parasite, embalmed in balsam, and radiant with light. There are dilettante Microscopists as well as working Microscopists. Perhaps wo should rather say that there are workers as well as amateurs. There is the man to whom, of a Monday "
"
109
BY W. ABBEY, M.R.C.S.
evening, it occurs to look over his polarising objects; accordingly, out comes the Microscope, the lamp, and all the paraphernalia. Crystals, hairs, molluscan palates, starch-grains, &c., pass promiscuously under his eye, until, satiated with the glories of colour, he puts away the last slide with something like a sigh of relief. On Tuesday, the binocular brings out, in familiar relief, his Foramenifera, his sponge-spicules, and his Polycystina. On Wednesday, the animal and vegetable tissues are reviewed. On Thursday, bugs, lice, and mites pass in long-drawn file before their admiring owner. Friday evening is devoted to Algae and Polyzoa. On Saturday, the rear is brought up by the infinite army of diatoms, headed by that one particular Gyrosigrna which has so long defied the scrutiny brought to bear upon it, and which, like the solitary snipe of the story, is of itself sufficient to furnish a winter's amusement. The key is turned on Microscope and cabinet, and the amateur awakes on the Sunday to the miseries of a tidy study. lie goes to church, and the painted windows remind him of the Folariscope. His religious duties fulfilled, he strolls out in the quiet evening, sees the sun setting royally, and looks upon the glory of the stars. The " nebulous blur of Orion," and all the hazy sublimities of astronomy, fill his mind with a sense of mystery, and with a longing. Therefore, on the Monday, he sells his Microscope, and buys a Telescope. It is a pity that a man cannot learn everything : but the cobbler must stick to his last; and, even before he can put in the final stitch, aid lovingly gaze upon the completed work, death pulls away the three-legged stool, and lands him in the dust. But we digress. It was not sitting in the seat of the scorner that we drew the foregoing sketch of a frame of mind which, if not very practical, is nevertheless commendable, seeing that it is often the precursor of better things. Indeed, it is well, perhaps essential, that the Microscopist should begin his His ideas will probably be career after this desultory fashion. the more comprehensive, and his perception of mutual relations the keener for such a training. But if he would turn what Dr. Carpenter would call his microscope power" to scientific account, he must be of another sort of observers. Setting his end before him, he must be the man who sits down to his Microscope, somewhat grimly as it were, to work out a fact; which having done, after much turning of screws, and soiling of fingers, and eye-aching over objects not beautifully mounted, but unsightly?not to say dirty?he sets his fact like a star in the firmament of a scientific journal, and feels that he has taught his fellows something, and himself far more. And it is to be observed that a fact conscientiously and minutely recorded by a man who does not aspire to a theory, derives a special value from the want of that colour which is so apt to be given by pre-conceived opinions. The observer is not to be disconcerted, but rather gratified by the mass of work that lies ready to his hand. He will not be able to improve the j ungle off the face of the earth, but he will have no difficulty in making a clearing. It is scarcely necessary to say that he need not be afraid of prying too closely into the secrets of Nature. Her furthest depths are beyond the reach of his sounding line. Let him adopt the sentiment of Lamartine? "Le mystere, e'est l'oeuvre de la raison humaine de l'elargir, de l'eclairer, de l'ecarter toujours davantage, sans le dissiper compietement jamais." It is possible that not even a ridiculous mouse may result from much travail in the attempt to bring forth "
a
prodigy,
but even then the would-be parent will have
at least
enlarged his own mind in discovering, with Horatio, that there Besides, he will are things not dreamt of in his philosophy. have amused himself, and that is something. We trust that no one would think it derogatory to his intellect to employ it on those small particles of matter which are
beyond the
range of naked vision.
It has become a trite
saying that the study of the infinitely small is not less sublime The solar system has than that of the infinitely large.
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
110 not more of
mystery than the pin-point speck of matter which may he cither the germ of a lichen or of Leviathan himself. The interest belonging to the ultimate atom rivals that which shrouds the star-dust of the Nebulae; and the small beginnings of
far away in the darkness of the past, possess more of human interest than does the huge conflagration of all things created which is predicted for the future. The Geologist micros-
life, twinkling
the Laurentian rocks, and triumphs greatly over that putaof foraminifers, lowliest of organisms?Eozoon Canadense; but he does not concern himself about the physical
copises tive
father
likely to be wrought on the rocky matrix by the transcendent heat of the last day. Our novice having decided that small things are not beneath his notice, and having for a while wandered vaguely
effects
through the fields of Science?from tares to turnips, from turnips to oats?becomes aware of the advisability of circumscribing his inquiries. To what class of phenomena shall he consecrate his energies ? He may select the very comprehensive subj ect of Development; he may confine himself to stricter limits?those of crystallization, for instance; or lie may, somewhat incongruously, group together those subjects which have a special bearing 011 Medicine. Let us summarily consider these three heads, beginning with the last. And here we may express an opinion that every Medical man ought to be provided with a Microscope sufficiently good for the generality of observations. Under this third head there is plenty of matter. There is the anatomy, in health and disease, of the tissues of the human body; the normal and abnormal constituents of the secretions, whether organic or inorganic, crystalline, colloid, or amorphous. There is the curious and pleasant history of the Entozoa, from the lordly tapeworm down to the humble Gregarina, a brotherhood whose pedigrees have been so well described and beautifuly illustrated by our countryman, Dr. Cobbold. There is the interesting family of the Epizoa, prominent among whom Sarcoptes," like a second Mikado, lives gloomily isolated from his six-legged subjects. Then there are the Epiphytes, for whose fair sakes Mr. Jabez Ilogg and Dr. Tilbury Fox broke a lance the other day. Would he attack the subject of crystallization ? Here are phenomena as intrinsically beautiful as they are obscure. We scarcely know a more beautiful and easily effected exhibition than that of the colours of the rainbow suddenly flaming out into the rigid forms of geometry, or into incandescent filigree work from the black chaos of the polariscopic field. A wilderness of monkeys is nothing in comparison with the world of speculation that opens itself to him. Let him tell us what particular mode of molecular aggregation determines the refractive properties of a crystal, and the magnitudes and number of its angles. Let him throw light on the difficulties of allotropy and dimorphism. Let him say what power, short of instinct, enables the crystal to repair its mutilated surfaces and angles, and to maintain a standard size. Let him explain the various circumstances under which the hitherto quiescent, viscid, or vitreous film flashes into a myriad of crystals, arranged after such and such a fashion. Let him show how the skeleton-crystal is laid down, how it fills up its interstices, and grows into solidity. Let him figure the characteristic form of blood-crystal in each species of animal. These questions, and many more of a similar kind, will furnish him with occupation, until the screws of his Microscope have become loose, and the lenses of his own eyes shrunk and "
opaque. The third
subject
for consideration is the formidable but in-
tensely interesting one of development. Its dimensions are indeed portentous, seeing that the student, if he would get a really just and extended view of his subject, must start from a point which some people might think antecedent to the beginning. In studying the laws of life, he must take at least a cursory glance at those which influence inanimate matter ; for, as it has been well and tersely put by Baden lowell in his essay on the " Unity
of Science,"
"
[May
From the lowest mechanical
or
1, 1866.
chemical influences
inorganic matter, there is an unbroken series to the first manifestation of organic changes; and from these again?from the lowest vegetable or Zoophyte, up to the highest mammalia?? there is entirely one continuous progression, its connexion from one term to another being carried on through absolutely insensible degrees and shades of difference." Perhaps the main distinction between Physics and Biology lies in the theoretical possibility of expounding all the conditions of the former, by means of mathematics, a possibility which does not apply to the conditions of life. However this may be, the Microscopist will find that his work lies almost exclusively among the vital phenomena of development, phenomena which he may fully investigate and generalize upon, with little or 110 reference to the question whether the soon
called "vital force" be tut a mode of that all-pervading force, of which the German philosophers, followed by Groves and Tyndal, have shown that heat, motion, light, and electricity are mutually convertible forms.
great study of Development rests mainly.on the labours Microscopist; for not only are the earliest stages of existof larger organisms, including man himself, invisible to
This of the ence
the unaided eye, but it is among the humblest atoms of vitality that the various processes of generation and development to be found most compendiously and lucidly set forth. are Earth, air, and water, more especially the last, are thronged with living hieroglyphics, which it is the task of the man of Science
arrange under their proper headings in the life. An ounce-phial, filled with water and weeds from the nearest tank or pond, will furnish new data to the most experienced biologist. The man who does not care to enter seriously into the subject of Natural History, as a whole, may still do eminent service by describing accurately what he sees; and if he will devote himself to the observation of a to interpret and great history of
limited set of
phenomena, content to furnish facts without troubling himself about theory, his observations will have the stamp of authority Eet upon them. This kind of observer is. indeed, particularly wanted in these tropical latitudes, of the Microscopic flora and fauna of which next to nothing is known. We have already mentioned some of the subjects which have a special interest for the Medical Practitioner, subjects of which he ought really to have some practical experience. We would more particularly commend to his notice the marvellous history of the Entozja, the details of which, humble as they may seem, are nevertheless of vital importance to mankind. No country has mora abundant materials for the study than India presents. We have only to add a few words as to the apparatus required by the Microscopist?the ne plus ultra of a Microscope, as made by Koss; Powell, and Lealand, or Smith and Beck, with objecand giving an available tives ranging up to the magnifying power.of 4,000 diameters, will cost in London about ?100. A first-class French
really good an.
instrument will cost very
and serviceable
advanced
student,
is
Microscope, quite made by Smith and
admits of subsequent additions.
much less. A sufficient for even
Beck for
?o,
and
Between these extremes the
purchaser can regulate his outlay according to taste. If the Microscopist wish to form a museum of Microscopic objects, he may do so at very small cost, and in exceedingly small " Microscope and its revelaspace. As for books, Dr. Carpenter's tions," profusely illustrated, and published at 12s. M. (third edition) gives every information about the instrument itself, and abstracts of the subjects that it illustrates. The Microscopic Dictionary," a corpulent volume, crowded with thousands of illustrations, is amazingly cheap at the published price of ?2-10. Pilchard's equally well illustrated work is the standard authority on Infusoria, Desinidiacea), and Diatomaceae, and is published at ?1-10 plain, or ?2-10 coloured, and is in its fourth edition. Dr. Cobbold's seautiful volume on Entozoa is published at ?1-11. "
ETHNOLOGY OF TEE CHUAS OF SHAWDOWLA TEMPLE, PUNJAB.
May 1, 1866.] There these
are
of course many other works not less valuable ; but ths most information for the smallest outlay.
perhaps give
Those who wish to mount objects for themselves will do well get Davies' "Preparation and Mounting of Microscopical " Objects, price 3s. 6c?. ; or Dr. Beales' How to work with the
to
Microscope,"
new
editicn.
,
Ill
May 1, 1866.]
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. THE
MICROSCOPE.
"WALTER ABBEY, M.R.C.S. The study of Medicine, developing as it does the perceptive powers of the mind, naturally gives a bias towards the Sciences. A retrospective glance tells this of the past, and no argument We do not always is needed to prove it of the present time. Br
readily acknowledge that Medicine, per se, is not a Science, an essentially empirical art. True, it owes much to Science, but so also does shoe-making or candle-making. The most scientific practitioner is not necessarily the most successful one, although, when other things are equal, he greatly weighs down the mere empiric. Neither is Medicine in these days necessarily a "learned profession." For the successful practice of the art, it is no longer necessary to know more of Latin than the rudiments, if even so much; nor will the iEsculapian stand convicted of ignorance, because the volumes of Celsus and Hippocrates stand with uncut pages upon his book-shelves. As a profession, Medicine has never been held in equal honour with Law, Divinity, or Arms. Nor is this surprising. It is well for inaugural lectures to expatiate on the dignity and privileges of the healing art, and the disinterestedness and learning of its but
Professors.
Doubtless it has its amenities and humanities ; but
all know that it entails much that is
we
means
repulsive,
and
by
no
consonant with
dignity. the profession,
The members of as a class, are not wanting in philanthropy; but all the world knows that when they have achieved a competency, they do not scruple to cease from doing good, and to beat their pestles into pruning hooks. Efforts have lately been made to maintain the general status of the profession by rendering compulsory a more or les3 perfect literary education. These means, however, are scarcely sufficient at a time when education is so universally diffused. It seems to lis
that Science is the most natural and efficient characteristic of profession. Everywhere we see that Medical men are the
the
foremost
exponents becoming as
of Natural
Science,
and
that the Sciences
essential to a liberal education as are the Classics. In these Sciences of observation there is work for all. It is not necessary to be deeply versed in mathematics, nor to be saturated with the learning of the ancients: the humblest student may confidently hope to contribute something towards are
the
general stock Here, in India,
of
knowledge.
Science has not hitherto seemed to flourish. It may be that men, after toiling through the hot day, are too intent on cheroots and the consolatory "peg," to care about investing a worth of brain in anything that does not terial interest on their money. And yet, in a
rupee's
promise macountry where Medical men, as a rule, have much more leisure than at home, and are more liable to be afflicted with ennui, it might be supposed that even intellectual occupation would be welcome, when it is amusing as well as useful. "We wish to commend to our readers the use of the Microscope. Small in compass, singularly perfect, and comparatively inexpensive, this universal implement of the Sciences is capable of opening up, even to the uninitiated, For the student it a ?Rorld of wonder and amusement. multiplies those powers of vision without which intellect were useless, reveals fresh laws of nature, and elucidates those already surmised at. All is beautiful, nothing unsightly, when seen under the Microscope. The delicately-bred young girl, full of antipathies, but not knowing what she is looking at, will exclaim: What an exquisite, fairy-like little creature! as she bows her head over the magnified form of an odious parasite, embalmed in balsam, and radiant with light. There are dilettante Microscopists as well as working Microscopists. Perhaps wo should rather say that there are workers as well as amateurs. There is the man to whom, of a Monday "
"
109
BY W. ABBEY, M.R.C.S.
evening, it occurs to look over his polarising objects; accordingly, out comes the Microscope, the lamp, and all the paraphernalia. Crystals, hairs, molluscan palates, starch-grains, &c., pass promiscuously under his eye, until, satiated with the glories of colour, he puts away the last slide with something like a sigh of relief. On Tuesday, the binocular brings out, in familiar relief, his Foramenifera, his sponge-spicules, and his Polycystina. On Wednesday, the animal and vegetable tissues are reviewed. On Thursday, bugs, lice, and mites pass in long-drawn file before their admiring owner. Friday evening is devoted to Algae and Polyzoa. On Saturday, the rear is brought up by the infinite army of diatoms, headed by that one particular Gyrosigrna which has so long defied the scrutiny brought to bear upon it, and which, like the solitary snipe of the story, is of itself sufficient to furnish a winter's amusement. The key is turned on Microscope and cabinet, and the amateur awakes on the Sunday to the miseries of a tidy study. lie goes to church, and the painted windows remind him of the Folariscope. His religious duties fulfilled, he strolls out in the quiet evening, sees the sun setting royally, and looks upon the glory of the stars. The " nebulous blur of Orion," and all the hazy sublimities of astronomy, fill his mind with a sense of mystery, and with a longing. Therefore, on the Monday, he sells his Microscope, and buys a Telescope. It is a pity that a man cannot learn everything : but the cobbler must stick to his last; and, even before he can put in the final stitch, aid lovingly gaze upon the completed work, death pulls away the three-legged stool, and lands him in the dust. But we digress. It was not sitting in the seat of the scorner that we drew the foregoing sketch of a frame of mind which, if not very practical, is nevertheless commendable, seeing that it is often the precursor of better things. Indeed, it is well, perhaps essential, that the Microscopist should begin his His ideas will probably be career after this desultory fashion. the more comprehensive, and his perception of mutual relations the keener for such a training. But if he would turn what Dr. Carpenter would call his microscope power" to scientific account, he must be of another sort of observers. Setting his end before him, he must be the man who sits down to his Microscope, somewhat grimly as it were, to work out a fact; which having done, after much turning of screws, and soiling of fingers, and eye-aching over objects not beautifully mounted, but unsightly?not to say dirty?he sets his fact like a star in the firmament of a scientific journal, and feels that he has taught his fellows something, and himself far more. And it is to be observed that a fact conscientiously and minutely recorded by a man who does not aspire to a theory, derives a special value from the want of that colour which is so apt to be given by pre-conceived opinions. The observer is not to be disconcerted, but rather gratified by the mass of work that lies ready to his hand. He will not be able to improve the j ungle off the face of the earth, but he will have no difficulty in making a clearing. It is scarcely necessary to say that he need not be afraid of prying too closely into the secrets of Nature. Her furthest depths are beyond the reach of his sounding line. Let him adopt the sentiment of Lamartine? "Le mystere, e'est l'oeuvre de la raison humaine de l'elargir, de l'eclairer, de l'ecarter toujours davantage, sans le dissiper compietement jamais." It is possible that not even a ridiculous mouse may result from much travail in the attempt to bring forth "
a
prodigy,
but even then the would-be parent will have
at least
enlarged his own mind in discovering, with Horatio, that there Besides, he will are things not dreamt of in his philosophy. have amused himself, and that is something. We trust that no one would think it derogatory to his intellect to employ it on those small particles of matter which are
beyond the
range of naked vision.
It has become a trite
saying that the study of the infinitely small is not less sublime The solar system has than that of the infinitely large.
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
110 not more of
mystery than the pin-point speck of matter which may he cither the germ of a lichen or of Leviathan himself. The interest belonging to the ultimate atom rivals that which shrouds the star-dust of the Nebulae; and the small beginnings of
far away in the darkness of the past, possess more of human interest than does the huge conflagration of all things created which is predicted for the future. The Geologist micros-
life, twinkling
the Laurentian rocks, and triumphs greatly over that putaof foraminifers, lowliest of organisms?Eozoon Canadense; but he does not concern himself about the physical
copises tive
father
likely to be wrought on the rocky matrix by the transcendent heat of the last day. Our novice having decided that small things are not beneath his notice, and having for a while wandered vaguely
effects
through the fields of Science?from tares to turnips, from turnips to oats?becomes aware of the advisability of circumscribing his inquiries. To what class of phenomena shall he consecrate his energies ? He may select the very comprehensive subj ect of Development; he may confine himself to stricter limits?those of crystallization, for instance; or lie may, somewhat incongruously, group together those subjects which have a special bearing 011 Medicine. Let us summarily consider these three heads, beginning with the last. And here we may express an opinion that every Medical man ought to be provided with a Microscope sufficiently good for the generality of observations. Under this third head there is plenty of matter. There is the anatomy, in health and disease, of the tissues of the human body; the normal and abnormal constituents of the secretions, whether organic or inorganic, crystalline, colloid, or amorphous. There is the curious and pleasant history of the Entozoa, from the lordly tapeworm down to the humble Gregarina, a brotherhood whose pedigrees have been so well described and beautifuly illustrated by our countryman, Dr. Cobbold. There is the interesting family of the Epizoa, prominent among whom Sarcoptes," like a second Mikado, lives gloomily isolated from his six-legged subjects. Then there are the Epiphytes, for whose fair sakes Mr. Jabez Ilogg and Dr. Tilbury Fox broke a lance the other day. Would he attack the subject of crystallization ? Here are phenomena as intrinsically beautiful as they are obscure. We scarcely know a more beautiful and easily effected exhibition than that of the colours of the rainbow suddenly flaming out into the rigid forms of geometry, or into incandescent filigree work from the black chaos of the polariscopic field. A wilderness of monkeys is nothing in comparison with the world of speculation that opens itself to him. Let him tell us what particular mode of molecular aggregation determines the refractive properties of a crystal, and the magnitudes and number of its angles. Let him throw light on the difficulties of allotropy and dimorphism. Let him say what power, short of instinct, enables the crystal to repair its mutilated surfaces and angles, and to maintain a standard size. Let him explain the various circumstances under which the hitherto quiescent, viscid, or vitreous film flashes into a myriad of crystals, arranged after such and such a fashion. Let him show how the skeleton-crystal is laid down, how it fills up its interstices, and grows into solidity. Let him figure the characteristic form of blood-crystal in each species of animal. These questions, and many more of a similar kind, will furnish him with occupation, until the screws of his Microscope have become loose, and the lenses of his own eyes shrunk and "
opaque. The third
subject
for consideration is the formidable but in-
tensely interesting one of development. Its dimensions are indeed portentous, seeing that the student, if he would get a really just and extended view of his subject, must start from a point which some people might think antecedent to the beginning. In studying the laws of life, he must take at least a cursory glance at those which influence inanimate matter ; for, as it has been well and tersely put by Baden lowell in his essay on the " Unity
of Science,"
"
[May
From the lowest mechanical
or
1, 1866.
chemical influences
inorganic matter, there is an unbroken series to the first manifestation of organic changes; and from these again?from the lowest vegetable or Zoophyte, up to the highest mammalia?? there is entirely one continuous progression, its connexion from one term to another being carried on through absolutely insensible degrees and shades of difference." Perhaps the main distinction between Physics and Biology lies in the theoretical possibility of expounding all the conditions of the former, by means of mathematics, a possibility which does not apply to the conditions of life. However this may be, the Microscopist will find that his work lies almost exclusively among the vital phenomena of development, phenomena which he may fully investigate and generalize upon, with little or 110 reference to the question whether the soon
called "vital force" be tut a mode of that all-pervading force, of which the German philosophers, followed by Groves and Tyndal, have shown that heat, motion, light, and electricity are mutually convertible forms.
great study of Development rests mainly.on the labours Microscopist; for not only are the earliest stages of existof larger organisms, including man himself, invisible to
This of the ence
the unaided eye, but it is among the humblest atoms of vitality that the various processes of generation and development to be found most compendiously and lucidly set forth. are Earth, air, and water, more especially the last, are thronged with living hieroglyphics, which it is the task of the man of Science
arrange under their proper headings in the life. An ounce-phial, filled with water and weeds from the nearest tank or pond, will furnish new data to the most experienced biologist. The man who does not care to enter seriously into the subject of Natural History, as a whole, may still do eminent service by describing accurately what he sees; and if he will devote himself to the observation of a to interpret and great history of
limited set of
phenomena, content to furnish facts without troubling himself about theory, his observations will have the stamp of authority Eet upon them. This kind of observer is. indeed, particularly wanted in these tropical latitudes, of the Microscopic flora and fauna of which next to nothing is known. We have already mentioned some of the subjects which have a special interest for the Medical Practitioner, subjects of which he ought really to have some practical experience. We would more particularly commend to his notice the marvellous history of the Entozja, the details of which, humble as they may seem, are nevertheless of vital importance to mankind. No country has mora abundant materials for the study than India presents. We have only to add a few words as to the apparatus required by the Microscopist?the ne plus ultra of a Microscope, as made by Koss; Powell, and Lealand, or Smith and Beck, with objecand giving an available tives ranging up to the magnifying power.of 4,000 diameters, will cost in London about ?100. A first-class French
really good an.
instrument will cost very
and serviceable
advanced
student,
is
Microscope, quite made by Smith and
admits of subsequent additions.
much less. A sufficient for even
Beck for
?o,
and
Between these extremes the
purchaser can regulate his outlay according to taste. If the Microscopist wish to form a museum of Microscopic objects, he may do so at very small cost, and in exceedingly small " Microscope and its revelaspace. As for books, Dr. Carpenter's tions," profusely illustrated, and published at 12s. M. (third edition) gives every information about the instrument itself, and abstracts of the subjects that it illustrates. The Microscopic Dictionary," a corpulent volume, crowded with thousands of illustrations, is amazingly cheap at the published price of ?2-10. Pilchard's equally well illustrated work is the standard authority on Infusoria, Desinidiacea), and Diatomaceae, and is published at ?1-10 plain, or ?2-10 coloured, and is in its fourth edition. Dr. Cobbold's seautiful volume on Entozoa is published at ?1-11. "
ETHNOLOGY OF TEE CHUAS OF SHAWDOWLA TEMPLE, PUNJAB.
May 1, 1866.] There these
are
of course many other works not less valuable ; but ths most information for the smallest outlay.
perhaps give
Those who wish to mount objects for themselves will do well get Davies' "Preparation and Mounting of Microscopical " Objects, price 3s. 6c?. ; or Dr. Beales' How to work with the
to
Microscope,"
new
editicn.
,
Ill
