The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-04-14

with a single lens, or with several
lenses so close together that they act
like a single lens. The compound mi
crOscope has two or more lenses, sepa-
rated by a convenient distance from
each other, and which act separately.
In 1869, EustachiO Divini constructed
a colossal microscope which magnifed
lao times. A little after, BOnannus in
vented a horizontal microscope which
magniied 300 times.
In the seventeenth century were
laid the foundations of micrography, a
science which, by the study of the
minute anatomical elements and their
functions, has made such great progress
under the name of histology, and been
such a fertile cause of important dis
cOveries. With the microscope, Nal
pighi, by the minute examination of
the tissues, confirmed the theories
about them he had previously formed
Leuwenhoek discovered the globules of
the blood and the structure Of the nerv-
GUS fbres; and Swammerdam dissected
insects, of the most minute organs of
which he gave descriptions still CON
sidered perfect.
In the eighteenth century, observes
Henocque, but few notifications were
made In the microscope. To mention
all the improvements made in the in
strument during our century would be
tedious. During the last forty years
enormous advances have been made in
science by the aid of the microscope,
of which the usefulness has been greatly
increased by the skill with which the
matter to be examined is prepared, and
by the aid of photography. Micro
photography dates from 1910 only; but
since that date it has had an uninter-
rupted series of noteworthy improve
mentS.
Besides histology, created by the mi
crOscOpe, by which Our acquaintance
with the most hidden structure of or
ganisms is constantly increasing, bac-
teriOlogy, with it's rapid succession of
discoveries of the highest Importance,
owes it's existence to the microscope.
Those little beings, those micro-organ-
isms, which, by the change of the
medium in which their evolution is
effected, a produce SO much good or
SO much evil, and of which it takes sew
eral millions to occupy the tenth part
of half an inch in space, can now be
identified according to their species,
Notwithstanding their changeable as
pect. We can estimate the rapidity OF
multiplication, the number, the dimen-
sions, and the singular manner in
which by dividing themselves, or by
means of a sort of buds or spores, the
heterogeneous reproduce themselves.
In the examination of the inorganic
world the microscope has had results
not less precious. The wonderful phe-
nomena of capitalization, the exact
form Of the crystals, the more precise
in proportion to their minuteness, the
modifying properties of thelight called
forth by the thinnest layer of a mineral,
the interior texture of rocks, all these
can be studied with a precision impOs-
sible before the invention of the i'm
proved microscope. And finally, not
to mention all the triumphs achieved by
the instrument, it has had an applica-
ton which formerly would have seemed
paradoxical, since the microscope has
been employed to show the particulars
of the nature of the surface of the
planets, particulars which have been
made clear by microscopic observa-
lions of instantaneous photographs
ErneStO Mancini, an NuOUG, Rome,
December.