On the Limits of the Optical Capacity of the Microscope

I n that article Professor Abbe stated the general conclusions at which he had arrived after a prolonged investigation of the optical laws affecting the transmission of light through the lenses of the microscope.These laws relate to-1.The divergence of the rays of light forming a geometrical image ; 2. The brightness of that image; 3. The dispersion of coloured rays, and its consequences ; and 4. The diffraction of light occasioned by minute articles in thi! objects placed under (or before) the microscope.f n explanation of these several phenomena, a theory of the microscope was stated in general terms, the mathematical demonstration of this theory, and its various applications, being reserved for a future communication.Simultaneously.withProfessor Abbe's researches, a most interesting investigation of the same subject was completed by Professor Helmholtz, and appeared in Poggendorffs ' Annals ' (1874).The