It is generally supposed that microscopes[3] were invented about the year 1580, a period fruitful in discoveries; a time when the mind began to emancipate itself from those errors and prejudices by which it had been too long enslaved, to assert its rights, extend its powers, and follow the paths which lead to truth. The honor of the invention is claimed by the Italians and the Dutch; the name of the inventor, however, is lost; probably the discovery did not at first appear sufficiently important, to engage the attention of those men, who, by their reputation in science, were able to establish an opinion of its merit with the rest of the world, and hand down the name of the inventor to succeeding ages. Men of great literary abilities are too apt to despise the first dawnings of invention, not considering that all real knowledge is progressive, and that what they deem trifling, may be the first and necessary link to a new branch of science. [3] The term microscope is derived from the Greek μικρος little, and σκοπεω to view; it is a dioptric instrument, by means of which objects invisible to the naked eye, or very minute, are by the assistance of lenses, or mirrors, represented exceeding large and very distinct. EDIT. The microscope extends the boundaries of the organs of vision; enables us to examine the structure of plants and animals; presents to the eye myriads of beings, of whose existence we had before formed no idea; opens to the curious an exhaustless source of information and pleasure; and furnishes the philosopher with an unlimited field of investigation. “It leads,” to use the words of an ingenious writer, “to the discovery of a thousand wonders in the works of his hand, who created ourselves, as well as the objects of our admiration; it improves the faculties, exalts the comprehension, and multiplies the inlets to happiness; is a new source of praise to him, to whom all we pay is nothing of what we owe; and, while it pleases the imagination with the unbounded treasures it offers to the view, it tends to make the whole life one continued act of admiration.”