The microscope made easy.

Date:
[1750]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The microscope made easy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/10 (page 55)
    For FEBRU curious, examined in all their parts. All lorts of files, gnats, crickeis, beetles, lady-birds, earwigs, lice, mites, fpiders and their eggs, ants, and all forts of water infects, that either live wholly in the water, or only play on the furface, will afford an infinite variety to the curious obferver. Among!! the creeping things we prin¬ cipally recommend the Indian centi¬ pede, the nodtiluca, the glow-worm, the chefs-bug, or wood-lcufe, maggots hatch¬ ed from the eggs of infefts and found in the earth or rotten trees: the cater- pillers of various kinds, the cadas-worm, cod-baits, Jiraw-worms, See. the <vifer, or adder, the fnake, the flow-worm, earth-worms, and fnails. Amongft plants and vegetables; the barbs of trees, efpecially of the plum, cherry, beech, See. the branch of a vine cut into thin flices, the fern, trunks, and roots of other trees, cut in the fame manner; touch-wood; the gems or buds; the leaves and blofjoms; the flowers, fruit, and feeds of plants ; mufhrooms, puff-balls, truffles, flews-ear, and all other molly and fungous excrefcences. In fine, the flower of grafs and corn , the beard of wheat, rye, and efpecially barley ; the Iuli, or catkins of hafle, willow, &cc. with a tnoufand other ad¬ juncts, will offer themfelves to the view and admiration of any one, who fhall undertake to enquire into the num- berlefs curiofities of the vegetable world *. Thefe are the claffes into which micro- fcopic objects are reduced by the learn¬ ed : but it is alfo acknowledged, that there are others of a mifcellaneous clafs, which cannot be ranked with any of the foregoing, though they afford great variety and pleafure to the infpeCtor ; and are all thole animalcula, which are found in vinegar and water, wherein pepper, fleflh, leaves, or any other Jub¬ ilance has been ifeeped for fomc days in the fummer feal'on : and to thefe may be added fponge, which is a fub- marine mofs or plant, and viewed in the microfcope, difeovers fuch a com- pofition and texture of parts, as'are * 'Mr. Ayfcough, Optician, in Ludgate-St curious Objects ready fined in Ivory Sliders, A R Y, 1750. 55 equally full of wonder and entertain¬ ment : and fea-water evaporated on a piece of glafs, over a gentle fire, and laid under a microfcope, will prefent a clear view of the particles, which compofe our common fait, in their fimple natural hate. Pieces of any fort of Unnen, fllk, ribbon, cotton, Jand, tinder lighted ; filings of fteel; /now, ice, the hoar flrofl; various forts of floncs, fiojjils. Scc. drugs, chemical pre¬ parations ; brandy, and all forts of ipirits have their diflinci beauties thro' a microfcope. And to give you a more clear idea of what may be expecled by the difeoveries of this inftrument, the mi¬ crofcope, I have delineated a few ob- jefts within the line at the top of the copper-plate, where No. 23, 24, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 are reprefentations of animalcules difeovered by the mi¬ crofcope in ditch water; as we are in¬ formed by the Philo/, flranf No. 283. In fine, to borrow the words of the ingenious Gentleman, and philofophic genius above referred to : Each feed includes a plant, the plant, again Has other feeds, which other plants con¬ tain ; Ehofe other pla?:ts have all their feeds ; and thofe More plants, again, fuccejfively inclofe. Thus every Jingle berry that v:e fnd. Has really, in if elf, whole forefls of its kind: Empire and wealth, one acorn may dif- penfe, By fleets to fail a thou [and ages hence. Each myrtle-feed includes a thoufand groves, Where future bards may warble forth their loves. So Ad am’s loins coniahid his large fof- terity, All people that have been, and all that e'er J.hall be. Amazing thought ! what mortal cart conceive Such wend'rous fmallnefs !—vet we mufl believe What st, has always large Codec}ions of Variety of