The Portland daily press., 1872-02-29

Mr. Bodies has afforded his audiences a rare
iund of entertainment by his lectures descrp-
tive of the wonders which the microscope
shows, they, on their part, have almost imper-
ceptibly gained much useful knowledge and
had opened to them large field for thought
and experiment The lectures have been meth
odically arranged; first beginning with care
full study of the microscope, the principles of
its construction, history, and use, and then APP
plying it to the analysis and study of minerals
and inorganic substances. Last evening the
subject was, The Microscope and Vegetable
Structure. The speaker began by explaining
the calcium light used in the production of the
pictures on the screen. This, he said, was form
ed by the combustion of oxygen and hydrogen
gas, uniting and forming small body of ex-
ceedingly strong light. When lime is introduce
ed into this flame the light becomes highly in
tensifed, and by simple arrangement per-
forated cylinder of this material is kept revolv-
ing in contact with the flame, presenting fresh
surface constantly to the action of the fire. He
then proceeded with his subject, referring first
to the deposits made up of the remains or slkel-
etons of marine plants which abound. in many
localities particularly under peat Dogs. At the
myds, low order of aquatic vegetable life,
which derived their brilliant green from the
granular material in their spore vessels He
would now present another class the Dydtomes
and show how they grow, their forms and Curl
Gus markings. The differences in formation
and color from the Desmyds were illustrated by
photographs and microscopic preparations of
different varieties of the same class; and here
the lecturer showed the wonderful magnifying
power of the microscope by exhibiting two or
three specimens of silicate vegetable formation,
magnifed to immense proportions. The first
was an object but 1-150th of an inch in length
1t was shown magnified go, 400 times, or 1913
feet in length. Another specimen was but
1-20Oth of an inch in length, but it was photo
graphed and shown on the screen 353, $50 times
its length, or $50 feet, and the lines which
marked its exterior, though 96, 900 to the inch,
appeared on the screen to be four inches apart!
This photograph was made by DR. J. j. Wood
ward, of the army medical museum at Wash
ington, with a lens made by Mr.. Tolles of Bos-
ton. sl6 a st1 3a.ftI DIS 30 .s.l-dt ,-aiBs' af
Fungi was the next division of the lecture-
that parasitic growth which strangles the hopes
of the farmer and creeps in and fastens itself
to the interior of plants and animals The
speaker created some amusement by showing
to the ladies the danger of making their Shack
hair" of jute 'fungoid Conservatives" Alqg
was another division of the subject treated-a
vegetable growth of fresh or salt water differ
ing from the other in form and color The
Moses and their allies, the Liverworts, received
considerable attention, and by means of the
lantern their magnifed forms were produced
and their structure, nature and coloring shown.
Flowerng plants came next, with full expo
sition of their reproductive processes, and the
manner in which their colors are deposited, as
well as their general structure explained. An
unusually interesting part of the exhibition was
that relating to wood structure, illustrated by
magnihed longitudinal and sectional cuttings of
many varieties of woods, foreign and native;
and the effect was remarkably fine, the fbres
cells and Opaque parts being presented with
sharpness and distinctness. In truth, the pic
lures themselves, if they had been unaccom-
panied by the lecture, would have been worth
the time spent in examining them In many of
them the brilliant coloring was preserved. They
were careful studies of natures finest works by
an unapproachable artist
MIR. Bolles concluded his lecture by explafn-
ing the means by which intelligence was con-
veyed to and from Paris during the seige. Let
tiers or newspapers were photographed upon
minute films of colodion, and hundreds of them
were entrusted to carrier pigeons. AT the end
of the route these infnitessimal documents
were enlarged by photography, and if the mat
ter was for the public the copy was thrown by
means of the calcium light and microscope up
on screen, around which the crowds gathered
A diminutive photograph of a daily paper was
magniied and thrown upon screen by Mr.
Bolles assistants to practically illustrate the
operation.
The next lecture will be given on Wednesday
evening next We are unable to do justice to
MIR. Bolles and therefore attempt but feeble
outline of the lecture, but hope that enough is
presented to create greater interest in those
which are to follow