A drop of Long Pond water magnified by the solar microscope.

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Record Details

Title: A drop of Long Pond water magnified by the solar microscope.
Date: 184-?]
Notes: 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.
Names and Subjects: Water supply--Massachusetts--Boston--1840-1850.; Caricatures and cartoons--United States.; Prints shelf.; Johnston, David Claypoole,--1799-1865,--lithographer.
Genre: Satires (Visual works) 1840-1850.; Lithographs 1840-1850.
ID: 269
Barcode: B6537428
Physical Description: 1 print : lithograph ; image 21.5 x 25.5 cm, on sheet 27.3 x 35.8 cm.
Repository: William L. Clements Library
Date Added/Updated: 2016-01-06 00:12:05

Technical Details

Collection: William L. Clements Library Image Bank
Image Size: 5069 x 3339
File Size: 1 MB
Record: 269
Link to this Item: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wcl1ic/x-269/wcl000342

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Manifest: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/wcl1ic:269

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Full citation: "A drop of Long Pond water magnified by the solar microscope.". https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wcl1ic/x-269/wcl000342. In the digital collection William L. Clements Library Image Bank. William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. May 23, 2025.