Evenings at the Microscope Or, Researches among the Minuter Organs and Forms of Animal Life

About this book

A reprint of a classical work in the Cambridge Library Collection.

English zoologist Philip Henry Gosse (1810–88) spent several years studying the biodiversity of habitats in North America and the Caribbean. His Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica (1851) is reissued in this series. When he settled on the Devonshire coast, the area proved equally rich for research. In this 1859 publication, the deeply religious Gosse considers the 'Divine mechanics' of animal body parts and microorganisms seen through the lens of a microscope. He leads the reader through a selection of specimens ranging from a hog's bristle to the shoe-like protist Paramecium. Gosse's writing style, enlivened with anecdotes and literary references, earned him considerable appreciation among Victorian audiences. His entertaining text is complemented by more than 100 illustrations which showcase his draughtsmanship. While the work shares its year of publication with Darwin's groundbreaking On the Origin of Species, Gosse's religious views firmly shaped his interpretation of the specimens on show.
 

Contents

Preface

1. Hairs, feathers, and scales
2. Blood
3. Mollusca
4. Sea-mats and shelly corallines
5. Insects: wings and their appendages
6. Insects: their breathing organs
7. Insects: their feet
8. Insects: stings and ovipositors
9. Insects: their mouths
10. Insects: their eyes and ears
11. Crabs and shrimps
12. Barnacles
13. Spiders and mites
14. Wheel-bearers
15. Worms
16. Sea-urchins and sea-cucumbers
17. Jelly-fishes
18. Zoophytes
19. Sea-anenomes: their weapons
20. Protozoa and sponges
21 Infusoria

Index

Customer Reviews