The Diamond Lens is a short story written by Fitz-James O'Brien. It tells the story of a young scientist named Linley who becomes obsessed with creating a powerful microscope that can see things at a microscopic level. After years of work, he finally creates the perfect lens made from a diamond. One day, while using the lens, Linley discovers a tiny creature living in a drop of water. He becomes infatuated with the creature and spends all his time observing it. He even falls in love with it, believing it to be a beautiful fairy-like being. As he continues to study the creature, Linley realizes that it is dying. He tries to save it, but ultimately fails. Devastated, he destroys his microscope and becomes a recluse, haunted by his obsession with the tiny creature. The Diamond Lens is a cautionary tale about the dangers of obsession and the consequences of playing God. It explores themes such as the pursuit of knowledge, the consequences of scientific discovery, and the limits of human understanding.This casual mention of the spiritualist, Madame Vulpes, set me on a new track. What if this spiritualism should be really a great fact? What if, through communication with subtiler organisms than my own, I could reach at a single bound the goal, which perhaps a life of agonizing mental toil would never enable me to attain?This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.