Chapter II: Preface

In the preface to my ESSAYS ON ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM, I informed the public that it was my intention to publish, from time to time, essays describing the construction and explaining the use of mathematical and philosophical instruments, in their present state of improvement. This work will, I hope, be considered as a performance of my promise, as far as relates to the subject here treated of.[1]

[1] Towards the completion of this design, our author afterwards
published, 1. Astronomical and Geographical Essays; 2. Geometrical and
Graphical Essays; 3. An Essay on Vision; 4. Lectures on Natural and
Experimental Philosophy. He had projected other compilations, and was
preparing a new edition of this work; but, alas! how uncertain are all
human projects! constant attention to an extensive business and to
literature, preyed on a constitution far from robust, and at length
rapidly accelerated his dissolution, which happened at Southampton, on
the 14th of August, 1795; aged 45. By this event, the world was
prematurely deprived of the beneficial effects of his farther labours,
and his friends of the conversation of a man, whose amiable and
communicative disposition endeared him to all those who had the
pleasure of knowing him. His life had been devoted to religious and
moral duties, to the acquisition of science, and its diffusion for the
benefit of mankind. To those who had no personal knowledge of Mr.
ADAMS, his works will continue to display his merits as an author, and
his virtues as a valuable member of society. EDIT.

The first chapter contains a short history of the invention and improvements that have been made on the microscope, and Father Di Torre’s method of making his celebrated glass globules. The second treats of vision, in which I have endeavoured to explain in a familiar manner the reason of those advantages which are obtained by the use of magnifying lenses; but as the reader is supposed to be unacquainted with the elements of this science, so many intermediate ideas have been necessarily omitted, as must in some degree lessen the force, and weaken the perception of the truths intended to be inculcated: to have given these, would have required a treatise on optics.

In the third chapter, the most improved microscopes, and some others which are in general use, are particularly described; no pains have been spared to lessen the difficulty of observation, and remove obscurity from description; the relative advantages of each instrument are briefly pointed out, to enable the reader to select that which is best adapted to his pursuits. The method of preparing different objects for observation, and the cautions necessary to be observed in the use of the microscope, are the subjects of the fourth chapter.

When I first undertook the present essays, I had confined myself to a re-publication of my fathers work, entitled, Micrographia Illustrata; but I soon found that both his and Mr. Baker’s tracts on the microscope were very imperfect. Natural history had not been so much cultivated at the period when they wrote, as it is in the present day. To the want of that information which is now easily obtained, we may with propriety impute their errors and imperfections. I have, therefore, in the fifth chapter, after some general observations on the utility of natural history, endeavoured to remedy their defects, by arranging the subject in systematic order, and by introducing the microscopic reader to the system of Linnæus, as far as relates to insects: by this he will learn to discriminate one insect from another, to characterize their different parts, and thus be better enabled to avoid error himself, and to convey instruction to others.

As the transformations which insects undergo, constitute a principal branch of their history, and furnish many objects for the microscope, I have given a very ample description of them; the more so, as many microscopic writers, by not considering these changes with attention, have fallen into a variety of mistakes. Here I intended to stop; but the charms of natural history are so seducing, that I was led on to describe the peculiar and striking marks in the œconomy of these little creatures. And should the purchaser of these essays receive as much pleasure in reading this part as I did in compiling it; should it induce him to study this part of natural history; nay, should it only lead him to read the stupendous work of the most excellent Swammerdam, he will have no reason to regret his purchase, and one of my warmest wishes will be gratified.

In the next chapter I have endeavoured to give the reader some idea of the internal parts of insects, principally from M. Lyonet’s Anatomical and Microscopical Description of the Caterpillar of the Cossus or Goat-moth. As this book is but little known in our country, I concluded that a specimen of the indefatigable labour of this patient and humane anatomist would be acceptable to all lovers of the microscope; and I have, therefore, appropriated a plate, which, whilst it shews what may be effected when microscopic observation is accompanied by patience and industry, displays also the wonderful organization of this insect. This is followed by a description of several miscellaneous objects, of which no proper idea could be formed without the assistance of glasses.

To describe the fresh-water polype or hydra; to give a short history of the discovery of these curious animals, and some account of their singular properties, is the business of the succeeding chapter. The properties of these animals are so extraordinary, that they were considered at first to be as contrary to the common course of nature, as they really were to the received opinions of animal life. Indeed, who can even now contemplate without astonishment animals that multiply by slips and shoots like a plant? that may be grafted together as one tree to another, that may be turned inside out like a glove, and yet live, act, and perform all the various functions of their contracted spheres? As nearly allied to these, the chapter finishes with an account of those vorticellæ which have been enumerated by Linnæus. It has been my endeavour to dissipate confusion by the introduction of order, to dispose into method, and select under proper heads the substance of all that is known relative to these little creatures, and in the compass of a few pages to give the reader the information that is dispersed through volumes.

From the hydræ and vorticellæ, it was natural to proceed to the animalcula which are to be found in vegetable infusions; microscopic beings, that seem as it were to border on the infinitely small, that leave no space destitute of inhabitants, and are of greater importance in the immense scale of beings than our contracted imagination can conceive; yet, small as they are, each of them possesses all that beauty and proportion of organized texture which is necessary to its well-being, and suited to the happiness it is called forth to enjoy. A short account of three hundred and seventy-seven[2] of these minute beings is then given, agreeable to the system of the laborious Müller, enlarging considerably his description of those animalcula that are most easily met with, better known, and consequently more interesting to the generality of readers.

[2] To these, six more are now added, making the whole three hundred
and eighty three. EDIT.

The construction of timber, and the disposition of its component parts, as seen by the microscope, is the subject of the next chapter; a subject confessedly obscure. With what degree of success this attempt has been prosecuted, must be left to the judgment of the reader. The best treatise on this part of vegetation is that of M. Du Hamel du Monceau sur la Physique des Arbres. If either my time or situation in life would have permitted it, I should have followed his plan; but being confined to business and to London, I can only recommend it to those lovers of the works of the Almighty, who live in the country, to pursue this important branch of natural history. There is no doubt but that new views of the operations in nature, and of the wisdom with which all things are contrived, would amply repay the labour of investigation. Every part of the vegetable kingdom is rich in microscopic beauties, from the stateliest tree of the forest, from the cedar of Lebanon, to the lowliest moss and the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; all conspiring to say how much is hid from the natural sight of man, how little can be known till it receives assistance, and is benefited by adventitious aid.

From the wonderful organization of animals, and the curious texture of vegetables, we proceed to the mineral kingdom, and take a cursory view of the configuration of salts and saline substances, exhibiting a few specimens of the beautiful order in which they arrange themselves under the eye, after having been separated by dissolution; every species working as it were upon a different plan, and producing cubes, pyramids, hexagons, or some other figure peculiar to itself, with a constant regularity amidst boundless variety.

Though all nature teems with objects for the microscopic observer, yet such is the indolence of the human mind, or such its inattention to what is obvious, that among the purchasers of microscopes many have complained that they knew not what subjects to apply to their instrument, or where to find objects for examination. To obviate this complaint, a catalogue is here given, which is interspersed with the description of a few insects, and other objects, which could not be conveniently introduced in the foregoing chapters. By this catalogue it is hoped that the use of the microscope will be extended, and the path of observation facilitated.

To avoid the formal parade of quotation, and the fastidious charge of plagiarism, I have subjoined to this preface a list of the authors which have been consulted. As my extracts were made at very distant periods, it would have been impossible for me to recollect to whom I was indebted for every new fact or ingenious observation.

The plates were drawn and engraved with a view to be folded up with the work; but as it is the opinion of many of my friends that they would, by this mean, be materially injured, I have been advised to have them stitched in strong blue paper, and leave it to the purchaser to dispose of them to his own mind.

A
LIST OF THE AUTHORS
WHICH HAVE BEEN CONSULTED IN THE COMPILATION OF THE FORMER
AND PRESENT EDITION OF THESE ESSAYS.

ADAMS. Micrographia Illustrata, or the Microscope
Explained. London, 1746 and 1781.

ADDISON. Spectator.

BAKER. An Attempt towards the Natural History of
the Polype. London, 1743.

BAKER. The Microscope made Easy. London, 1744.

BAKER. Employment for the Microscope. London, 1753.

BARBUT. Genera Insectorum of Linnæus. 4to. London, 1781.

BERKENHOUT. Botanical Lexicon. 8vo. London, 1764.

BERKENHOUT. Synopsis of Natural History. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1789.

BIRCH. History of the Royal Society. 4to. 4 vols. London, 1756.

BLAIR. Sermons. London, 1792.

BONNANI. Observationes circa Viventia, quæ in Rebus
non Viventibus reperiuntur, &c. 4to. 1691.

BONNET. Oeuvres d’Histoire Naturelle et de
Philosophie. 9 tom. 4to. Neufchatel, 1779.

BORELLUS. De vero Telescopii Inventore.

BRAND. Select Dissertations from the Amœnitates
Academicæ, &c. 8vo. London, 1781.

CURTIS. Instructions for Collecting and Preserving
Insects. 8vo. London, 1771.

CURTIS. Translation of the Fundamenta Entomologiæ.
8vo. London, 1772.

CURTIS. Flora Londinensis. Folio. London, 1777, &c.

CURTIS. Botanical Magazine. 8vo. London, 1787, &c.

CYCLOPÆDIA. By Dr. Rees. 4 vols. Folio. London, 1786.

DE GEER. Memoires pour servir a l’Histoire des
Insectes. 4to. 7 tom. 1752.

DELLEBARRE. Memoires sur les Differences de la
Construction et des Effects du Microscope. 1777.

DERHAM. Physico-Theology. 8vo. London, 1732.

DONOVAN. History of British Insects. 8vo. London, 1792, &c.

DONOVAN. Treatise on the Management of Insects. 8vo. London, 1794.

DU HAMEL DU MONCEAU. La Physique des Arbres. Paris, 1757.

ELLIS. Essay towards a Natural History of
Corallines. 4to. 1755.

ELLIS. Zoophytes, by Dr. Solander. 4to. London, 1786.

ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. 4to. 18 vols. Edinburgh, 1797.

EPINUS. Description des Nouveaux Microscopes.

FABRICIUS. Philosophia Entomologica. 8vo. 1778.

GEOFFROY. Histoire Abregee des Insectes. 2 tom. 4to. Paris, 1764.

GLEICHEN. Les plus Nouvelles Deucouverts dans le
Regne Vegetal, &c. Folio. 1770.

GOLDSMITH. History of the Earth and Animated Nature.
8vo. London, 1774.

GREW. Anatomy of Plants. Folio. London, 1682.

HALLER. Physiologia.

HEDWIG. Theoria Generationis et Fructificationis
de Plantarum Cryptogamicarum. Petersb. 1784.

HILL. Review of the Royal Society. 4to. London, 1751.

HILL. History of Animals. Folio. London, 1752.

HILL. Essays in Natural History. 8vo. London, 1752.

HILL. The Construction of Timber explained by
the Microscope. 8vo. London, 1770.

HILL. Inspector.

HOME. Treatise on Ulcers, &c. 8vo. London, 1797.

HOOKE. Micrographia. Folio. London, 1665.

HOOKE. Lectures and Collections. 4to. London, 1678.

HOOPER. Economy of Plants. 8vo. Oxford, 1797.

JOBLOT. Observations d’Histoire Naturelle faites
avec le Microscope. 4to. 2 tom. Paris.

JOURNAL DE PHYSIQUE, PAR ROZIER, &c.

JONES. A Course of Lectures on the Figurative
Language of the Holy Scriptures. 8vo. 1787.

KIPPIS. Biographia Britannica. Folio. 1778, &c.

LEDERMULLER. Microscopische Ergötzungen. 4 theile. 4to.

LEEUWENHOEK. Arcana Naturæ. 4to. Lugd. Bat. 1722.

LEEUWENHOEK. Opera Omnia. 4to. Ibid. 1722.

LETTSOM. Naturalist’s Companion. 8vo. London, 1774.

LINNEAN SOCIETY. Transactions. 3 vols. 4to. London, 1791, &c.

LINNÆUS. Systema Naturæ. 8vo. edit. 12mo. Holmiæ, 1766.

LYONET. Theologie des Insectes de Lesser. 2 tom.
8vo. La Haye, 1742.

LYONET. Traite Anatomique de la Chenille qui ronge
le Bois de Saule. 4to.

MACQUER. Dictionary of Chemistry. London, 1777.

MAGNY. Journal d’Economie. 1753.

MALPIGHI. Opera. 4to. Lugduni Bat. 1687.

MARTIN. Micrographia Nova. 4to. Reading, 1742.

MARTIN. Optical Essays. 8vo. London.

MULLER. Animalcula Infusoria Fluviatilia et
Marina. 4to. Hauniæ, 1786.

NICHOLSON. Introduction to Natural Philosophy. 2
vols. 8vo. 1787.

NICHOLSON. Journal of Natural Philosophy, &c. 1797.

NEEDHAM. New Microscopical Discoveries. 8vo. London, 1745.

NEUERE GESCHICHTE DER MISSIONS ANSTALTEN. 4to. Halle, 1796.

PALLAS. Elenchus Zoophytorum. 8vo. Hagæ Comit. 1766.

PARSONS. Microscopic Theatre of Seeds. 4to. London, 1745.

POWER. Microscopical Observations. 4to. 1664.

PRIESTLEY. On Light, Vision, and Colours. 4to. 1772.

REAUMUR. Memoires pour servir a l’Histoire des
Insectes. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1737.

REDI. De Insectis. 1671.

REID. On the Intellectual Powers of Man. Nürnberg, 1746, &c.

ROSEL. Insecten Belustigung. 4 theile. 4to.

ROYAL SOCIETY. Philosophical Transactions.

RUTHERFORTH. Natural Philosophy. 2 vols. 4to. Cambridge, 1748.

SCHIRACH. Histoire Naturelle de la Reine des
Abeilles. A la Haye, 1771.

SHAW. Naturalist’s Miscellany. 8vo. London, 1790, &c.

SMITH, R. Optics. 2 vols. 4to. Cambridge, 1738.

SMITH, I. E. English Botany. 8vo. London, 1790, &c.

SPALANZANI. Opuscules de Physiques Animale et
Vegetale. Geneva, 1777.

STILLINGFLEET. Miscellaneous Tracts. 8vo. London, 1762.

SWAMMERDAM. The Book of Nature, revised by Hill.
Folio. London, 1758.

SWEDENBORG. Œconomia Regni Animalis, cui accedit
Introductio ad Psychologiam Rationalem.
4to. Amsterdam, 1743.

SWEDENBORG. Regnum Animale, Anatomice, Physice et
Philosophice Perlustratum. 4to. Hagæ Comit. 1744.

TREMBLEY. Memoires pour servir a l’Histoire des
Polypes d’eau douce. Paris, 1744.

VALMONT DE BOMARE. Dictionnaire Raisonne universal
d’Histoire Naturelle. Lyon, 1776.

WALKER. A Collection of Minute and Rare Shells.
4to. London, 1784.

YEATS. Institutions of Entomology. 8vo. Ibid. 1773.

LONDON, _Dec. 12, 1797_.

The Public are hereby respectfully informed, that the STOCK and
COPYRIGHT of the following Works by the same AUTHOR, lately deceased,
have been purchased by W. and S. JONES, Opticians, &c. and that they
are now to be had at their Shop in Holborn.