1 [Infusoria, a collective term for minute aquatic creatures such as ciliates, euglenoids, protozoa, unicellular algae, and small invertebrates that exist in freshwater ponds. In modern formal classifications, the term is considered obsolete; the microorganisms previously included in the Infusoria are now mostly assigned to the Kingdom Protista.]

2 [Nicolaas Hartsoeker, see Volume 3, Lesson 16, note 36.]

3 [Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek, see Volume 2, Lesson 15, note 14.]

4 [Laurent or Louis Joblot (born 1645, died 1723), often referred to as the “other father of microscopy,” second only to Leeuwenhoek who is recognized as the first to observe and record microbes. But Joblot, in his own right, was an equally innovative observer and theorist. A professor of mathematics at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Joblot explored and lectured on perspective, optics, and geometry, leading to his personal pursuit of microscopy during the period of 1680 to 1716. His landmark work, Observations d’histoire naturelle faites avec le microscope, first published in 1718 (with a posthumous, heavily augmented, second edition in two volumes in quarto, Paris, 1754-1755), presented his own developments and modifications of the microscope, observations of protozoa, and his opposition to the theory of spontaneous generation. Joblot’s new microscope permitted more precise focusing by eliminating stray light and enabling the mounting of a diverse array of specimens. The microbes became clearer and more visible. He would refer to the microbes he observed in terms such as “fishes” or “caterpillars,” or even provide mirthful names such as “slipper,” “gobbler,” or “bagpipes”: “in an instant a dozen fishes differing from each other and so strange to see and observe that I do not think that the entertainment of Comedy, of the Opera with all its magnificence, of rope dancers, acrobats or the animal fights that we can see in this superb City, could be preferred to it.” For more on Joblot, see Lechevalier, 1976.]

5 [Vibrion, an antiquated term for microorganisms, specifically used in reference to motile microorganisms, and especially common in biological literature from the late 19th century to the 1920s; it may also refer to Vibrio, a genus of anaerobic bacteria with a comma-like shape, several species of which can cause food-borne infections, usually associated with eating undercooked seafood.]

6 [Abraham Trembley, see Volume 2, Lesson 15, note 6.]

7 [August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, see Volume 3, Lesson 18, notes 43, 44.]

8 [Vorticella, a genus of bell-shaped ciliates that have stalks of contractile myonemes, with which these organisms attach themselves to substrates, and which pulsate creating whirlpools, or vortices, hence its name.]

9 [Volvox, a polyphyletic genus of chlorophyte green algae (the discovery of which is usually attributed to Leeuwenhoek), the species of which form spherical colonies of up to 50,000 cells and live in a variety of freshwater habitats.]

10 [Proteus is Amoeba proteus, a small amoeboid protozoan that uses tentacular protuberances called pseudopodia to move, devours smaller unicellular organisms (other protozoans, algae, rotifers, and even other smaller amoebae) by phagocytosis, and occupies a variety of freshwater environments.]

11 [Bacillaria, a genus of photosynthetic diatoms, the cells of which are elongate and motile, sliding along each other in stacked colonies; reproducing both sexually and asexually, it contains marine as well as brackish and freshwater species, usually found on bottom substrates but commonly found in plankton as well.]

12 [Martin Frobenius Ledermüller (born 1719, died 1769), a prominent German physician, lawyer, self-taught naturalist, and keeper of the natural history collection of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. He settled down in Nuremberg in 1749, after having wandered about for many years as a soldier and a secretary, and started his microscopical studies under the protection and direction of Christoph Jacob Trew (1695-1769), a wealthy physician and botanist. In 1763 he published his first book, Mikroskopische Gemüths- und Augen-Ergötzung, a manual for the amateur microscopist with engravings of plant, animal, and inorganic objects seen through a microscope —an important and early work on microscopic observation, remarkable for its beautifully engraved illustrations of plants, animals, and other organic and inorganic substances, including various kinds of microscopes and optical experiments, most of which are hand colored.]

13 [Walter Needham, see Volume 2, Lesson 15, note 67.]

14 [New Microscopical Discoveries, Containing Observations, I. On the Calamary and its Milt-Vessels… II. On the Farina Faecundans of Plants… III. On the Pistil, Uterus and Stamina of several Flowers… IV. On the supposed Embryo Sole found on the body of Shrimps… V. On Eels or Worms bred in blighted Wheat. VI. On several other curious Particulars relating to the Natural History of Animals, Plants, etc. London: Printed for F. Needham, over against Grey’s Inn in Holborn, 1745.]

15 [Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, see Volume 2, Lesson 4, note 57; see also Volume 1, Lesson 7, note 39.]