It was at one time hoped, as the precious stones are more refractive than glass, and as the increased refractive power is unaccompanied by a correspondent increase in chromatic dispersion, that they would furnish valuable materials for lenses, inasmuch as the refractions would be accomplished by shallower curves, and consequently with diminished spherical aberration. But these hopes were disappointed; everything that ingenuity and perseverance could accomplish was tried by Mr. Varley and Mr. Pritchard, under the patronage of Dr. Goring. It appeared, however, that the great reflective power, the doubly-refracting property, the color, and the heterogeneous structure of the jewels which were tried, much more than counterbalanced the benefits arising from their greater refractive power, and left no doubt of the superiority of skillfully made glass doublets and triplets. The idea is now, in fact, abandoned; and the same remark is applicable to the attempts at constructing fluid lenses, and to the projects for giving to glass other than spherical surfaces--none of which have come into extensive use. By the term _simple_ microscope is meant one in which the object is viewed directly through a lens or combination of lenses, just as we have supposed an arrow or an insect to be viewed through a glass held in the hand. When, however, the magnifying power of the glass is considerable, in other words, when its focal length is very short, and its proper distance from its object of consequence equally short, it requires to be placed at that proper distance with great precision: it cannot, therefore, be held with sufficient accuracy and steadiness by the unassisted hand, but must be mounted in a frame having a rack or screw to move it towards or from another frame or stage which holds the object. It is then called a microscope, and it is furnished, according to circumstances, with lenses and mirrors to collect and reflect the light upon the object, and with other conveniences which will now be described.