As is always the case with new truths, there was hostility to accepting his views. In England this hostility was slight on account of his great personal influence, but on the Continent there was many a sharp criticism passed upon his work. His views were so illuminating that they were certain of triumph, and even in his lifetime were generally accepted. Thus the new conception of vital activities, together with his method of inquiry, became permanent parts of biological science. CHAPTER IV THE INTRODUCTION OF THE MICROSCOPE AND THE PROGRESS OF INDEPENDENT OBSERVATION The introduction of the microscope greatly increased the ocular powers of observers, and, in the seventeenth century, led to many new departures. By its use the observations were carried from the plane of gross anatomy to that of minute structure; the anatomy of small forms of life, like insects, began to be studied, and also the smaller microscopic animalcula were for the first time made known. Putting aside the disputed questions as to the time of the invention and the identity of the inventor of the microscope--whether to Fontana, Galileo, or the Jenssens belongs the credit--we know that it was improved by the Hollander Drebbel in the early years of the seventeenth century, but was not seriously applied to anatomical studies till after the middle of that century. The Pioneer Microscopists The names especially associated with early microscopic observations are those of Hooke and Grew in England, Malpighi in Italy, and Swammerdam and Leeuwenhoek, both in Holland. Their microscopes were imperfect, and were of two kinds: simple lenses, and lenses in combination, forming what we now know as the compound microscope. Some forms of these early microscopes will be described and illustrated later. Although thus early introduced, microscopic observation did not produce its great results until the nineteenth century, just after magnifying-lenses had been greatly improved. [Illustration: Fig. 12.--Hooke's Microscope, 1665. From Carpenter's _The Microscope and Its Revelations_. Permission of P. Blakiston's Sons & Co.]