The microscope and the eye : a history of reflections 1740 1870 The versatile tool of improvement Encountering optical deceptions Tools of accuracy Microscopic fallacies peculiar optical deceptions and the eyes defects Test objects and the pretensions defects and excellencies of individual microscopes Johannes Müller and the problem of subject object Bringing physics to anatomy Handling nervous tissue and the problem of visual acuity The microscopes retina Writing on microscopy