John George Wood - Common Objects of the Microscope

The task of revising and bringing up to date a work which has been the guide, philosopher, and friend of thousands of commencing microscopists has been, in the present case, one of no small difficulty. On the one hand, there was the natural desire to interfere as little as possible with the original work; and on the other, the necessity of rendering available, to some extent at least, the enormous advance in every department which has taken place in the thirty-six years which have elapsed since the work was first offered to the public. The reviser has done his best not only to fulfil these two objects, but to keep in view the original purpose of the book.

In the popular department of pond-life especially, about fifty new illustrations have been added, mostly from the reviser’s own notebook sketches. The whole of the botanical part has been revised by one of our first English authorities, and, in short, no effort has been spared to make the work as accurate as its necessarily condensed form permits of. It is hoped, therefore, that it may be found not less useful than its predecessor by those for whom it is alone intended.

In my two previous handbooks, the “Common Objects” of the Sea-shore and Country, I could but slightly glance at the minute beings which swarm in every locality, or at the wonderful structures which are discovered by the Microscope within or upon the creatures therein described. Since that time a general demand has arisen for an elementary handbook upon the Microscope and its practical appliance to the study of nature, and in order to supply that want this little volume has been produced.

I must warn the reader that he is not to expect a work that will figure and describe every object which may be found on the sea-shore or in the fields, but merely one by which he will be enabled to guide himself in microscopical research, and avoid the loss of time and patience which is almost invariably the lot of the novice in these interesting studies. Upwards of four hundred objects have been figured, including many representatives of the animal, vegetable, and, mineral kingdoms, and among them the reader will find types sufficient for his early guidance.

Neither must he expect that any drawings can fully render the lovely structures which are revealed by the microscope. Their form can be given faithfully enough, and their colour can be indicated; but no pen, pencil, or brush, however skilfully wielded, can reproduce the soft, glowing radiance, the delicate pearly translucency, or the flashing effulgence of living and ever-changing light with which God wills to imbue even the smallest of His creatures, whose very existence has been hidden for countless ages from the inquisitive research of man, and whose wondrous beauty astonishes and delights the eye, and fills the heart with awe and adoration.

Owing to the many claims on my time, I left the selection of the objects to Mr. Tuffen West, who employed the greater part of a year in collecting specimens for the express purpose, and whose well-known fidelity and wide experience are the best guarantees that can be offered to the public. To him I also owe many thanks for his kind revision of the proof-sheets. My thanks are also due to Messrs. G. and H. Brady, who lent many beautiful objects, and to Messrs. Baker, the well-known opticians of Holborn, who liberally placed their whole stock of slides and instruments at my disposal.

Pleasures and Uses of Microscopy—Development of the Microscope—Extemporised Apparatus.

Within the last half-century the use of the microscope, not only as an instrument of scientific research, a tool in the hands of the investigator of the finer organisation of the world of nature, nor even as an adjunct to the apparatus of the chemist or the manufacturer, but as a means of innocent and instructive recreation, has become so firmly rooted amongst us that it seems hardly necessary to advocate its claims to attention on any of these grounds.

So wonderful is the information which it affords, so indispensable is it in many, if not in all, branches of scientific research, that not only would the lover of nature be deprived of one of his most valued sources of information and enjoyment, but some sciences would be brought absolutely to a standstill if by any conceivable means the microscope were to be withdrawn from their followers.

On the other hand, from every improvement in the construction of the latter, a corresponding enlargement and enlightenment of the fields reviewed by these sciences has taken place, and the beauty and interest of the revelations made by its means has attracted an ever-increasing host of earnest and intelligent volunteers, who have rendered yeoman service to the cause of knowledge.

Moreover, so vast is the scope of the instrument, that whilst discoveries in other fields of research are few and far between, comparatively speaking, in microscopic science they are of everyday occurrence, and the number of problems calling for solution by means of the instrument in question is so vast that even the humblest worker may be of the greatest assistance.

In the following pages we propose to carry out, as far as possible with reference to the microscope, the system followed in the “Common Objects of the Seashore and of the Country,” and to treat in as simple a manner as may be of the marvellous structures which are found so profusely in our fields, woods, streams, shores, and gardens. Moreover, our observations will be restricted to an instrument of such a class as to be inexpensively purchased and easily handled, and to those pieces of supplementary apparatus which can be extemporised at small cost of money and ingenuity by the observer himself, or obtained of the opticians for a few shillings.

With the same view, the descriptions will be given in language as simple and as free from technicalities as possible, though it must be remembered that for many of the organisms and structures which we shall have to describe there are none but scientific names; and since, moreover, this little work is intended to furnish a stepping-stone between the very elements of microscopic science, and those higher developments of it which should be the aim of every worker, it would be unwise to attempt to invent commonplace appellations for the purpose of this book, and leave him to discover, when he came to consult works of reference in any particular subject, that his “simplified” knowledge had all to be unlearnt, and a new vocabulary acquired. Rather will it be our purpose to use correct terms, and explain them, as far as necessary, as we introduce them.

The commencing microscopist is strongly recommended, whilst not confining his interest entirely to one branch of research or observation, to adopt some one as his particular province.

The opportunities for discovery and original work, which are afforded by all alike, will be more readily appreciated and utilised by adopting such a plan than by a general and purposeless distribution of effort. To mention one or two. The student of the fascinating field of pond-life will find new organisms awaiting description by the hundred, and of the old ones, life-histories to make out; if he be attracted rather to the vegetable inhabitants of the same realm, the diatoms will furnish him with the opportunity of studying, and perhaps solving, the enigma of their spontaneous movement, and of watching their development. The smaller fungi, and indeed the larger ones too, will amply repay the closest and most laborious study of their habits of life and processes of development. Since the first edition of this work was published, the whole subject has been practically revolutionised, and more remains to be done than has yet been accomplished.