Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/541

MICROSCOPIC ANIMALS band with each of the colors of the spectrum, from the violet to the red. It may therefore be concluded that the present limit to micro- scopic vision is simply the goodness of the objective ; and the rapidity of recent improve- ments may well lead us to hope for a still fur- ther advance." Subsequently Nobert ruled, for the scrutiny of Drs. Barnard and Wood- ward, lines approximated even closer than the 19th band, but the test has exceeded as yet the resolving power of their lenses. In judging of the merits of an objective, it appears to us that oblique illumination has been too much dwelt upon. The angle of aperture having been as- certained, the general merits will be much more apparent by use of tests, Nobert's lines for example, with the best central illumina- tion. If the scale of podura plumbea is em- C" >yed, select a medium-sized rather than a ge one. The wedge-shaped dots should be sharply defined, without fog or mist. The scales of the American podura are not dotted but lined, and are not so suitable. See Quekett " On the Use of the Microscope " (London, 1848; lasted., 1865); Robin,.Dw microscope (Pa- ris, 1849) ; Harting, Het Milcroslcoop (Utrecht, 1852 ; translated into German by Dr. Theile, Brunswick, 1859); Wythes, " The Microscopist " (Philadelphia, 1853); Schacht, "The Micro- scope," edited by Currey (London, 1855) ; Grif- fith and Henfrey, " Micrograph! c Dictionary: Introduction "(London, 1856); Gosse, "Even- ings at the Microscope" (London and New York, 1859) ; West, " Half Hours at the Micro- scope " (London, 1859) ; Beale, " Application of the Microscope to Clinical Medicine " (2d ed., London, 1859) ; Clarke, " Objects for the Microscope" (London, 1859); Hogg, "The Microscope" (London, 1867); Beale, "How to work with the Microscope " (London, 1868) ; Carpenter, " On the Microscope, its Revela- tions, and its Uses " (London and Philadelphia, 1868); Woodward, "Photo-micrography," in the "American Journal of Science," vols. xlix. and 1. ; F. A. P. Barnard, "Microscopes," in his " Report on the Apparatus of the Exact Sci- ences exhibited in the Paris Exposition, 1867 ;" H. Frey, "The Microscope and Microscopical Technology," translated from the German and edited by George Cutter, M. D. (New York, 1872); "Transactions of the Microscopical So- ciety of London ;" and " Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science" (London). MICROSCOPIC MIMALS. See ANIMALCULES. MICROSTHENES. See MEGASTHENES. MIDAS, the name of several mythical kings of Phrygia. Rawlinson remarks in a note to Herodotus : " In the royal house of Phrygia, the names Midas and Gordius seem to have alternated perpetually, as in that of Cyrene the names Battus and Arcesilaus. Every Phrygian king mentioned in ancient history is either Midas, son of Gordius, or Gordius, son of Midas. Bouhier reckons four kings of Phrygia named Midas, each the son of a Gor- dyis. Three of these are mentioned in Herod- MIDDLEBURY 523 otus." Duncker, in Geschichte des Alterthums (4th ed., Leipsic, 1874), places the reign of the first Midas in the middle of the 8th century B. C., and supposes the dynasty to have be- come extinct in the 6th, with the successors of the third Midas, King Gordius and his son Adrastus. The following is the principal myth connected with the name of Midas. Midas con- ferred a favor on Bacchus, and the god desired him to ask whatsoever he pleased. Midas re- quested that everything touched by him might become gold. The request was granted, but as his food underwent the metamorphosis as well as all things else, he was reduced to a state of starvation, and implored the god to recall his grant. Bacchus bade him bathe in the Pacto- lus ; and Midas having done so, instantly his touch lost its auriferous power in the case of all things essential to life, while the sands of the river were converted into gold. Midas was once chosen umpire in a musical contest between Pan and Apollo ; he awarded the palm to Pan, in revenge for which Apollo changed his ears into those of an ass. Midas, to hide this deformity, used to wear a lobed cap ; but the slave whose business it was to cut his hair became privy to the secret, which so troubled him that, afraid to reveal it to a fellow mor- tal, and unable to keep it to himself, he dug a hole in the earth, and whispered into it: "King Midas has asses' ears." He then filled up the hole, but a reed sprung up on the spot, which, as often as the wind blew, whispered his words to the world. Midas is said to have killed himself by drinking the blood of an ox. MIDDELBURG, a town of Holland, capital of the province of Zealand, situated near the cen- tre of the island of Walcheren, 82 m. S. W. of Amsterdam; pop. in 1871, 16,580. The town is circular, and surrounded by a ditch and a bastioned mound, the top of which forms a fa- vorite public promenade. It has a gymnasium, an academy of design, a clinical school, a thea- tre, and various manufactures. The town hall was built by Charles the Bold in 1468, and is ornamented with 25 colossal statues of counts and countesses of Flanders. The town was founded in 1132, belonged for some time to the Hansa, and was taken by the Dutch from the Spaniards in 1574. The British lost 7,000 men here from the effects of the climate du- ring the famous Walcheren expedition in 1809. MIDDLE AGES. See AGES. MIDDLEBURY, a town and the capital of Ad- dison co., Vermont, on Otter creek at Middle- bury falls, and on the Rutland division of the Central Vermont railroad, 35 m. S. of Burling- ton, and 33 m. S. W. of Montpelier ; pop. in 1870, 3,086. It is surrounded by attractive mountain scenery. Fine white and variegated marble is found here, and large quantities are quarried and exported. The town contains a cotton factory, a woollen factory, an iron foundery, a national bank, a weekly newspa- per, 14 public schools, including a high school, and five churches. It is the seat of Middle-