Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-03-22
MICROSCOPIC WONDERS.
CHAT WITH PRESIDENT cox, OF
THE NEW YORK SOCIETY.

-lAosSASAl SAT- CrySCNlSs
President c. F. Coz, in very interesting
conversation at his home in the WeStmore-
land, spoke OF the work Of the New York
Microscopical society for 1857.
Mr.. Cox first mentioned the vast improve
ment in the methods of measuring micro
scopic objects. This is done 10y rulings on
glass, which are produced By complicated but
wonderfully delicate machines They are
constructed SO as to accurately divide an inch
or any other unit of measurement into any
desired number of parts, as, for instance,
l-lOO of an inch, 1-lo00 of an inch, and even
l-lO,ooO OF an inch. Only three Of these
machines, however, have produced any note
worthy work. One is the invention Of Pro
fessor Rogers, of Harvard college, another
that of Nj Fa.oldt, of Albany, and third
tnat OF the professor of physics at Johns Hop
klns university These three machines do
different kinds OF work, though ruling parallel
lines by means Of q fine diamond point upon
glass or metal, TO be used as micrometers,
which are to objects under the microscope
similar to the scale of inches portrayed at
the bottom OF maps and architectural plans
The finest rulings thus far produced by any
of the machines are at the rate of something
like 200, 900 to the inch. Some idea Of the
closeness of the ruled lines can be obtained
from considering that 1900 such lines would
occupy only the space included in the thick
ness of a sheet Of ordinary letter paper.
With this explanation of the method Of
measuring objects under the microscope, MIR
Cox started j. to tell some of the things
members Of the society had done in the last
year toward dissecting and examining mi
crobes, which cause and spread diseases like
cholera, diphtheria yellow fever or malaria
In every day English he explained that the
microbe and the bacillus, the microbes twin
brother, are names for exceedingly minute
organisms which exist in infinite numbers
wherever they find their particular foods,
either in the liquids of the human body in
both health and disease, in the tissues of ami
mails, IN stagnant water and sewerage In
dried and dormant state they even float IN
the air, from which they descend into their
proper hahitats. Thus they cause and spread
diseases like cholera, diphtheria, yellow
fever and malaria. Each disease has a mi
crobe or germ peculiar to it, and which may
be easily distinguished by the microscope
from nearly all other microbes. Specimens
of all these microbes have been collected by
gelatinc surface, just as farmer sows oats
or wheat. They will grow up as sorts of
fungus, and even to the naked eye they will
then be as distinguishable, one sort from an
other, as oats are from wheat, or wheat from
rye, or rye from barley. Professor Charles
E. Pellew, of Columbia is the member of the
society who has thus sown little fields Of
diphtheria, consumption, cholera, yellow
fever and other dangerous diseases. They
are under cultivation like grasses in a
rockery. These little grass plots of the ter
rible diseases are glass covered, and whole
cemeteries are represented in them.
Mr.. Cox referred to one difficulty the
microscopes had experienced in experiment.
ing with the fungi of these terrible diseases.
AT a certain stage or rather in the advanced
growth Of the fungi, new microbes are shed,
which are infinitely smaller than the original
nicrobe. These microbes have shell like
hazel nut, and about as hard, and even after
they are boiled at great heat some micro
scopists differ as to whether the disease germ
has been destroyed. Microbes are like potato
bugs They encircle the globe You can
scrape them off your tongue. Microbes de-
stroy the teeth. They are with us and about
us morning, noon and night. They are even
in the medicine bottles in the druggists
shops Mr.. Cox then told of the discovery
of one of his brother microscopists who ex-
amined number of vials on the shelf of an
up town druggist. At the bottom of the
walls sediment was found which, under the
powerful gaze of the microscope turned out
to be microbes, and any prescription prepared
with the liquid in the Walls would harm in
stead of heal the patient. He referred to this
to show the care that all druggists should ex-
ercise in keeping fresh medicines in their
walls
Mr.. Cox then told how the microscope had
Shown what Is known rs the BrOwnlan move
ment TO be a mysterious trembling, OF half
rotary motion, which seems to take place
necessarily in any sort Of substance, if finely
enough divided and held in suspension in
liquid of suitable specific gravity. For
example, he said, "a little gamboge rubbed
up in water will exhibit an activity among
its microscopic particles which will give
them the appearance of being alive when
looked at through the microscope. No one
knows the cause of this motion nor its limi-
tations as to time. l have specimen of this
sort which has been under observation for
thirteen and a half years, and, as far as
known, has never shown any sign of Stacking
in all that time"
Speaking of the microscope on minerals,
Mr.. Cox said that many crystalline sub
stances, particularly quartz abound in small
cavities or bubbles" left when crystalliza-
ton took place. Sometimes these are empty.
Sometimes they are filled with gas. Often
they are filed with brine, in which cube Of
salt is held in suspension. II the cavity and
its contained salt crystal are exceedingly
small, Brownian movement occurs in the salt
particle and affords very interesting object
for the microscope. The quartz OF ordinary
granite is generally rich in such moving in
illusions" and thus thing which is ordinarily
regarded as actually inert is seen to be flied
with activity. This is one reason why gran
lite used in the construction OF buildings goes
70 pieces in q fire, for the heat expands the
liquid or gas contained in the cavities, and
causes such pressure as breaks the stone
asunder. The presence of the brine in these
cavities is regarded as evidence that the
granite, which was formerly looked upon as
an igneoUs rock, is really sedinsntary.
One of the interesting sights is TO see mem
bers of the society cut A., beetle, or house
roach into thousand pieces, every one OF
which is thinner than the fines. hair. This Is
done by a knife, or rather q sort OF planning
machine, the edge of whose blade can only
be seen by a microscope The insect is
dropped into spoonful of hot paraftlne,
which is allowed TO cool 1t is then put In
place on tbs microscope and rlaned or shaved
by the machine until every thousandth part
of the insect is cut Of, somewhat after the
fashion Of Second avenue butcher operat-
ing on a bologna sausage. The wax contain
ing the specimens is then foated IN alcohol,
which frees the specimen II is then secured
By the application of drop Of balsan and