The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-08-21
HIS SECRET DIED WITH HIM.
Lens Capable of Duplicating the Opti-
cal Effects of the Eye.

William Malcolm died recently at
Syracuse, n. Y. says letter TO the
Albany Argus, and Il scientific secret
of inestimable value is lost to the
world. unless from the inklings of the
principles involved which have come
to the knowledge of the discoveries
intimatcs at odd times can be deyel-
oped the methods which have given
him distinction in every part of the
globe where astronomy and micro
scopy are practiced.
Years ago he went into the manu-
facture of firearms with William A.
Sweet. Mr.. Malcolm always had a
liking for guns. and in his day was one
of the crack shots of the state. He
lost an eye in the hunting field while
testing the shooting qualities of a
breech-loading fowling-piece. This
was in July. 1868.
Before this misfortune befell him he
had already achieved wonders in the
perfection of the lens. The study of
optics was an accidental choice, made
originally for diversion, but pursued
later for the difficulties it offered. At
first he worked in the attic of his resi-
dence on James street. Finding the
range of vision limited he afterward
took possession of little shop on the
top floor of his block down town. where
he could get a large field for testing
his lenses. For years Il barn situated
about four miles distant. beyond the
state idiot asylum. was the target at
which he leveled his instruments.
Their power of magnification was so
strong that he could by their use trace
the grain in the knots in the barn
doors. But this was not the quality
for which he strove and which he at
last impaired to the glass. His ambi-
ton was to make lens that would not
require adjustment for varying dis
tances but. like the human eye and
with equal facility, would sweep any
field at one focus. Opticians and
astronomers told Mr.. Malcolm that he
was in search of an ignus fatuus. But
by dint of long application and untold
study he finally caught the chmera.
In other words, he produced in tel
escope all the constituents of natural
vision. and thereby astonished the
scientific world. This he accomplished
by using combination of several
lenses, adjusted to each other on
plan only known to himself, aud dia-
phragming them down so that all the
divergent rays were excluded. leaving
only the center ones, rs in the human
eye. AS the eye of man scans the
whole prospect of Il scene far and near,
so this telescope discerns with equal
accuracy an object twenty feet or
twenty miles away without alteration
of the focus.
The lenses of the Malcolm makers
are designed both for observatory and
gunnery use. Since their wonderful
qualities were proved they have been
in demand by several institutes every
where. some of the orders the discov-
erer has filled coming from the remot-
est countries. The Lick observatory,
in California, and Royal observatory.
at Greenwich. are supplied with NAL
colin lenses. Several governments.
including our own and those of Russia,
England and Italy, have successfully
employed these telescopes on their
ordnance. Nevertheless. Mr. Malcolm
has not profted by his discovery as he
could have done had the business end
of it been properly managed.