The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1876-02-05
lcammualeaisJ I
Onr Microscope.

/ cope. had q smaN one that has auoFied Me MNN
amusement-at long intervals but that was 'hfoNh
aside ty my learned nricud with On expressive
"Pooh,'' that made me feel ashamed q having
brought it under his notic'. "Nou want hlsh
power" said he. "You cannot Afford to be wasting
your time looking through a lens that barely makes
visible some Of the larger fms Of microscopic life;
you want to explore more 80 Tfelt be was right but
had a lurking suspicion in my own mind that 1t was
Palestine, not proioplasms; the source Of the Nile, not
Of Life, that l longed to explore. You take a
glass Of wa,er"-he resumed. you secure one drop
on your plate. you adjust the ins,rument-and then
there bursts upon you a vision Of life, such rs you
never dreamed Of before You gare with awe and
establishment on the teeming myriAds that inhA6i'
that minute space, finally you proceed to analyEe
what is before you. You select some one Of the
many forms that are visible and by dissection unfold
the wondrous intricacies Of its form. The task fas-
cinates you; you are lost in amaEement at the con-
plexity Of its structure, and the design visible in the
whole. You arise from your task with a new admi-
ration Of the Great Power that arranged all the de-
tails Of the minute frame you have examined, and
feel that the investigation has made You n better
man." Then he spoke Of the microscope as n means
Of amusing and instructing my children and that
decided me TO purchase through him the style OF
instrument he recommended.
From that time until the arrival Of the microscope,
l kept the children in good order by promising to re-
ward them for good behavior by allowing them to
use il; or threatening, as a punishment, that, when
it did come, they should not have a peep into il
Finally it arrived. With il came a pamphlet OF
' instructions for il use, which laid one side,
hattering myself that l knew enough about micros-
copes to manage this one. When | opened the neat.
and expensive case in which was packed eight
hundred dollars worth of brass and glass, l must
say | was amazed. If, thought I-if the mere pack
ing Of such a microscope calls for such n display OF
ingenuity and calculation, what must be the power
of the instrument when applied to its further use OF
" exploring
Wife and l did the unpacking, that is, | took out
the different parts, while she mounted guard over
them as they lay on the table. and kept repeating to
the children - don't touch At last il was all out
LAYING the box one side we then commenced on the in
strument to put i. together. Here | wish it distinctly
understood that wife helped me. Nine O'Clock struck
and still she was lending me help. The base on
which the superstructure was TO be built We knew
was right eide up. Three different tubes had been
laid one side, one Of which We were positive was to
90 on first. Then | studied them while wife gaEed
into a pretty mirror that came with the instrument,
and wondered why they didn't send q brush aud
comb. Bed time arrived; half the parts had been
fitted 50 that could look through them, and then
we concluded to repack the balance, and put the
whole away safely.
The box wasn't big enough Everything had
come out Of it, but we couldn't get one half the
things back AS this fact became patent, wife went
off to her room, and when-after slowing everything
into q drawer-I followed her, she wanted to know
how | got along with the microscope! | had but
one dream that night, but that was q sweet one. l
dreamed that the draft that L had forwarded for the
payment of the instrument had been presented at
the Bank of California ten minutes after 1t had sus-
pended, and the parties would have to wait another
month for their money. This pleased me for ar
gued that the labor / should have in getting the
thing to work, would be partly made up by their
loss O interest on the money. No time the next morn
ing to work n; the microscope, so / put the pamphlet
of instructions in my pocket intending to study IL
during the day.
Couldn't find time to look at the Z" instructions, >
although l took them out, and laid them on the office
table SO as to have them handy.
Reached home, had supper, cleared the table OIL
got out the drawer full Of pieces, and felt in my
pocket for the pamphlet. Found twas on the
Office table and went to work without it. After an
evening of the most intense application got oil the
parts together; and then tried one Of the mounted
objects. Looked and saw a watery blurr. Readjust
ed the focus, looked again, and saw a black spot
Kept my eye on it, and moved the focus-screw. Saw
another blot, then a lot Of undulating lines, then
some more, and then discovered that / was looking
at a reflected image Of the surface Of my own eye
Picked cut another object that was labelled "fresh.
f water infusoria." Got a good light on it, looked
again and couldn't make anything out Of it. VIII,
tried, but as she either kept both eyes open, or sh'
closed both, she didn't get any satisfaction out Of thu
instrument. Then we went to bed, and / dreamed
that 1 was drilling all the office clerks in keeping on
eye wide open while they closed the other. Secures
the pamphlet this day, took it home, got out the in
strument and found that it was n "solar" micro
scope. and needed the light Of the sun TO develop il
capacities. Now this was discouraging-although !
did explain the presence of the little mirror that wifi
had taken such a fancy to-for l never can get ava,
from the Office in the daytime, except Sundays-aDl
SOL was about to lay down the pamphlet in DISCUS
when turned 10 a chapter headed, Chow to us
the microscope with artificial light"
"Ah, wife," I exclaimed; "here we are-just il
: time, for, really, 1 was-you will say 1 was foolish
but I really gas going to feel vexed with my scienti
o fc friend for sending me an expensive instrumen
8 that could only be used in the day time; but now
= we're all right. Let's see-'How to use the micro
e SCOPE with artificial light Yes, well-now listen.
7 read az follows: when the instrument is to b
. used at night, it will be found best to use the oxy
hydrogen lime light :" | involuntarily paused i
e inter astonishment, and wife filed up the pause b.
t saving che hoped Dillingham; e. Co. had 'em CHEAP
q for she thought I had spent money enough on tn
microscope, to say nothing Of getting a new lamp
G Kerosene was bad enough, she added, but she coul
t not trust our native boy with any kind Of "gin,
n even if it tDas mixed with cline" Here | astonish
o ed her with a wild cha! Ia 'oxy-hydrogen lin
n light - did my scientific friend think what tina
would cost me here? Was it not enough for me {
Is lose money in one of his scientific ice machines
d Alas ! it's too much"
d Wife became alarmed. She sootbed me; took III