A drop of Long Pond water magnified by the solar microscope.
Satire on the purity of Long Pond's water (Lake Cochituate in Natick, Massachusetts) which was Boston's water supply starting in 1848. A magnified drop of the "pure water" is projected on a wall, showing that it is full of organisms. A group discusses what they see, while a man, at right, explains, "You perceive, ladies & gentlemen, that this water teems with animalcules: pure water is ever thus inhabited, for these delicate little creatures cannot exist in an impure element, it follows therefore, that that water is most pure, in which they most abound."; Presumably drawn by David Claypoole Johnston.
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