Essays on the Microscope / Containing a Practical Description of the Most Improved Microscopes, a General History of Insects, etc., etc.

A practical manual and natural-history survey that traces the microscope's invention and optical principles, compares improved instruments, and gives detailed guidance on preparing and observing specimens. It introduces Linnaean insect classification, outlines insect life cycles and internal anatomy based on earlier microscopical anatomists, and describes freshwater hydra, vorticella, and hundreds of animalcula found in infusions. The text includes concise catalogs of interesting objects, examinations of the microscopic structure of wood and crystalline salts, and engraved plates that illustrate instruments and specimens to aid observation.