Through the microscope

It is a miserable day here today. A day to spend time peering into the microscopic world.

The main photograph shows part of the foot of a male great water beetle Dytiscus marginalis. The front legs of the male water beetle are covered with round-ended suction cups  and spines which enable him to cling to the back of the female during copulation. The slide was prepared in 1891!

The "extra" is a detail of a slice through a mammalian brain showing the complex network of connecting nerve fibres. This unfathomable network is the means by which we think our thoughts, great or otherwise.