Holmes was offering practical instruction in the use of the microscope to medical students at Harvard by 1855. In an address to the Boston Microscopical Society in 1877, Holmes said, “My dealing with the instrument has been principally as a teacher, and not of microscopy as a specialty, but as a fractional portion of long-extended courses on anatomy, delivered to large classes. The most I could hope for was to teach them the rudiments of histology, and more especially to give them knowledge enough to make them wish for more. I have therefore aimed at having perfectly and easily manageable instruments, at selecting the more important and interesting objects, and at making everything as plain as practicable, knowing well that if a mistake in looking through a microscope is within the bounds of possibility, the young student will be certain to make it.” Albumen print of Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) with his microscope
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Reproduced from an original in the collections of the Boston Medical Library
