Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1884-06-19
An HOUR WITH A MICROSCOPE.
nm Unseen World Around M, s,r,..
~hish-powsr Ions win Afford. '

efH
Il suppose there never wa. .
when the general interest in micro.romu
was so great as at present" said tho
principal micrcNcop maker in the eitv 70
the Herald reporter. twill take mosiv
weeks or W. months to fill the orders
V on hand, and they keep coming in
lhaVe ordersfrom all parts of the world
Here Is a very fine instrument intended
Tor Japan; there is another that IL r.
ing Il London. ! have also a number
making for residents of the CITY. Onr
Microscopical Society is in quite n aour.
ishlng condition, having over n bur.
dred members. Quite a number balo,o
TO d London Microscopical Society
l fact, We have more members ~ tbo,
society than any other city in the Unit.
ed States. There are a few If orr
number Who may be called professional
microscopes. We also have some verv
skllful amateurs. 4 prominen law.
yer, resident Of the North Side. has sev.
eral very fine instruments, and is very
active. l made an instrument not l,nc
since for a son of Congressman Adams
and all through the city there are young
people, and old people, too. who are
beginning to learn that there is an nm.
seer world around us we'll worth look
ing at"
What is the cost of a good instru-
ment?"
That depends on the amount of work
put on it and the magnifving power,
They range in price from $50 TO SSOO
A great many persons think that they
must have the highest magnifying power
IN order TO have the most endowment.
That Is a great mistake. With a high
power lens you could not take in the
whole Of a ly's eye, let alone his port
ly presence. You could not see all of
his prQboscis. You could not take in
the vast dimensions of a grain of sand.
For q beginner that is Of no use. He
should first see the object in its entirety
before studying it in detail. Lenses run
In magnifiying power all the way from
ten diameters up TO !, 800 or 1000. Here
is n that magniiied twenty diamcters.
Now look at this object" The reporter
adjusted his eye to The instrument and
saw a curious looking insect, yellowlsh
In color, with two great bullying eyes
and quite a sharp proboscis. 1t looked
about the size of n wasp, but had six
remarkably long legs and no wings.
That" said the optician, lis a cat flea.
You can see the whole of it clearly, and
can study it in detail. You can see
what long legs it has. If you could
jump a. high in proportion to your body
rs it can, you could jump over the moon
very nearly. Now, look at il through
this seventy.five power glass. You can
only see a part of it. With a still
er power you could only see one of the
hairs OF its legs, or one of those smaller
fleas that Dean Swift speaks Of
As naturalists observe, q flea
Has smaller ieas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still TO bite EN-;
And so proceed, al iniuitum.
Il show You this as an illustration of
what l mean that a beginner does not
want high power lenses to commence
with. When it comes to fine and acien-
tifc study with a trained eye, then the
high powers come in. Yes, sir, 1t takes
a trained eye to do reliable work with
the microscope. What a Tendall or a
Pasteur sees is one thing; what some
DIR. Fiddle decide sees. or don't see is
quite another. The apparent increase
in size given to an object is spoken Of
in diameters. W say an object is mag
nitied so many diameters, meaning the
lineal measure across it in any direc-
ton. As You Sc that cat flea through
this 75-power lens it is magnitied 10
diameters. A cat flea YOU a see with
the naked eve it is about the same in
size MS the human flea. Now, | will
show you something that tn naked eye
v could have discovered"
The reporter looked and saw what
appeared to he a dozen pieces OF very
slender white cord, each probably half
an inch long, cooled or tied up in loose
knots.
"Those are trichinm, taken from an
unfortunate lad in Michigan, who, hav-
ing made his supper on raw pork, the
deniZens Of the raw pork turned around
and made asupper on him. The NOR
al is: Be sure and see that your trlchl-
nae is thoroughly done brown before
o undertake 10 digest them. They
are an insignificant sort OF worm, but
Won can not take them on the half-shell.
As YOU look at them there they seem 20
have plenty Of room, but you see the
actual space they are in Is not rs large
as the end of your lead pencil. Now,
here is a very beautiful object. That Is
the dust offs butterfiy's wing.
The reporter looked and saw q mui-
titude Of beautiful little feathers, with
the quill distinctly visible. Some were
broad and fiat, with notches at the end
others were tapered and notified WITH
and apparently had a little tnit
OF bristlos at the end, and they were al
beautiful. The dust from a moth
looked more like o folded umbrella
IL a Haluie, but ''s
color. Here is traverse section OF
the human scalp. Those small pm
no;nts are the hair cells, and those VEN
ike looking lines show the course oithe
hair under the scalp. lhat
i maofned seventy-fye diameters.
IMAGINE a mar seventy five times larger
than your ordinary fellow-citizen,
What a Gargantua he would be, over
400 feet high, and built IN proportion.
His head would be as big as a two-story
bonse. and his eyes world look IN
monse show.yindows. And yet tins Is
among the lower powers of the micres-
ON When you get up into the hun
dreds infnitesima!s begin TO 100 nhe
Examine this sand IRON
H;ohland Park. To the touch 1t Is qulle
rr;ftv See what a beautiful smooth
%ayble every grain is. Now 1901 ~
.h;s IN & the eve of a fly. II looks
lie a sieve, and is about the SIZE or
haIf.dollar. Every one of those niue
bolas in the sieve isan eye. There are
.;r or seven thousand Of them IL
dragon fy has 1000 ,.
And SO. with a long list OF specimens
~ every variety did the scientis. leaa
.ha rsnorter on a pleasant Journey
ths, ,,cb The unseen world. Kindly aus
aasoJ neople as often perplexed 70
,waaant they SDOulu ]