Microscope Introduction

Microscope a Brief Introduction

In considering the microscope, it may be looked at as a machine composed of glass and brass complete in itself, or it may be considered as an artificial aid to the eye, like a spectacle. When complete in itself it is properly called a projection microscope, for it produces an image wholly independent of the eye of the observer. This image may be fixed on a photographic plate or used as a basis for a drawing (DIAGRAM).

On the other hand, when used as a microscope in the ordinary way, the eye of the observer is an integral part of the optical combination, just as integral a part as the objective or the ocular (DIAGRAMS). This being the case the optical perfection of the eye is as influencing on the final retinal image as the perfection of the other optical parts. In considering the real greatness of the microscope and the truly splendid service it has rendered, the fact has not been lost sight of that the microscope is, after all, only an aid to the eye of the observer, only a means of getting a larger image on the retina than would be possible without it, but the appreciation of this retinal image, whether it is made with or without the aid of a microscope, must always depend upon the character and training of the seeing and appreciating brain behind the eye. The microscope simply aids the eye in furnishing raw material, so to speak, for the brain to work upon.

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