The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1897-11-05
Ths1emurrM-S Star
TOLLES' TINY N
THE SMALLEST IN THE ENTIRE
WORLD.

liza nan were to don q pair OF mi
croscopes as he does Il pair OF eye
glasses, he would suddenly find him
self confronted by an absolutely new
and most amazing world.
Not only would everything look
hundreds Of times larger than IL does
now, but the face Of everything would
be utterly changed, and thousands, or
perchance millions, OF new objects
would appear OF which he had never
before dreamed.
The clear sunlight would be found
streaming through myriads OF huge
blocks and PARTICLES OF dirt and stone;
animals OF various sizes would be fly
Ing wildly about, and such would be
the forbidding aspect of the street
that was a moment before perfectly
clear, he would hesitate to advance.
lie could see the trees breathing;
he could see the ducts OF the human
skin giving of their secretions-thou-
sands Of modes and operations OF daily
life that are now screened from his
eyes would become apparent.
Doubtless it has occurred to many q
reader on his first initiation into the
maryels of the microscope that some
day yet more perfect and penetrating
instruments will be devised, and that
it will at least be possible to get very
close to the mystery Of things. But
that is IA dream, probably destined
never to be realized.
METEOROLOGICAL PARADOX.
1t is a remarkable paradox that
even nov it is possible to magnify an
object so highly that it cannot be
seen. This apparent absurdity arises
from the fact that the more an object
is magnified the smaller must be the
aperture through which the object is
viewed, 30 that it happens that an
object may be magniiled to an almost
an incredible degree, while at the
same time there will not be enough
light admitted TO perceive the image.
1t is possible that the most power
full microscope that ever will be built
has been built. Very few, probably,
are aware that this instrument was
made and is owned in this country. 1t
belongs to DR.. Ephraim Cutter, Of
New York, and was made by TOlles,
of Boston.
1t is technically known as a 10Th"
and its value to science has been a
matter of long dispute. DR. Cutter
himself contends that he has made
many important discoveries which it
would be impossible to make with an
instrument OF smaller power.
Whatever may be the truth OF the
matter, it is to be said that his dis
coveries have not as yet been generally
accepted by the medical profession,
and furthermore that most microscop.
lists content themselves with instru-
mentS Of far lower power, and there
fore OF clearer definition.
Not only is there no other "75th" in
existence, but the ''50ths" that were
made In some number a few years ago
are not nov in general use. For the
most part instruments technically
known as ''12ths" or ''l6ths" are now
generally employed.
In spite OF all this, the microscope
made by Tolles remains a wonder of
the art. 1t would take a microscope
to make a photograph of any interest
Of this microscope.
LENsE SIZE OF A PIN HEAD.
Imagine, II you will, a tense no
larger than a pin head that required
nearly four years Of daily labor to per-
feet. 1t will, in itself produce an I'M
age 750times that of the object against
which it is directed; and by a simple
manipulation known to every Il who
is familiar with a compound micro
scope an eye piece may be introduced
which will magnify this image twenty
times; that is to say, looking through
such an cyc-piece with such ar objec-
tive, you will see an object magniled
1900 times its natural size.
1t is difficult to think in figures
like these. 1t means that If you could
get a postage stamp under such a
glass (as a matter of fact, OF course,
you could do nothing OF this sort you
would see it magnifled to the size OF
three or four city blocks.
Or, to use a microscopical illustra'
ton, it means that by this instrument
you may make a white corpuscle Of
your blood fill the whole field OF Wis
iona white %corpuscle that Is so small
that 10000 or 5000 OF them laid side
by side would only suffice to measure
an inch. 1t is possible by means o
this instrument to detect foreign mat
Ter, possibly organisms in the bloot
which are to these white c0rpuscle'
in size as a pin head to a cent.
Nevertheless microscopes do no
generally believe that an instrument
OF such high power gives anything
like the same clearness or definition
of an Instrument Of much lowe
power. Thus IA microscope magnify
ing only 250O diameters has been mad
OF such clearness that II will show il
fine detail in proportion of 1860
lines to the inch, where 1t Is said tina
an instrument magnifying 10000 di
amcters will only show a detail equa