Science & Mathematics

The Museum's collections hold thousands of objects related to chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Instruments range from early American telescopes to lasers. Rare glassware and other artifacts from the laboratory of Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, are among the scientific treasures here. A Gilbert chemistry set of about 1937 and other objects testify to the pleasures of amateur science. Artifacts also help illuminate the social and political history of biology and the roles of women and minorities in science.

The mathematics collection holds artifacts from slide rules and flash cards to code-breaking equipment. More than 1,000 models demonstrate some of the problems and principles of mathematics, and 80 abstract paintings by illustrator and cartoonist Crockett Johnson show his visual interpretations of mathematical theorems.

In March 1856, the University of Michigan named a committee “to contract for the construction of a suitable microscope for the University.” Within a year or so, this committee had spent $469 for a microscope made by Charles Achilles Spencer, America’s first successful microscope
Description
In March 1856, the University of Michigan named a committee “to contract for the construction of a suitable microscope for the University.” Within a year or so, this committee had spent $469 for a microscope made by Charles Achilles Spencer, America’s first successful microscope maker. This enormous sum was charged to the account of "Natural History" and the microscope was placed in the hands of Alexander Winchell, a professor of geology who would soon be named Geologist of the State. Twenty years later, after Winchell had left the University, the costly microscope was transferred to the Physiological Laboratory in the Medical School. The transfer was arranged by Charles Stowell, a young doctor who would spend his career teaching physiology and microscopy, and who was clearly aware of the historic importance of the instrument. In an obituary notice penned shortly after Spencer’s death in 1881, Stowell explained that the objective was a 1/16 of “as near 180°as can be obtained.” That is, it had a very short focal length and a very wide angular aperture. When Stowell got his hands on this objective, he saw a crack “running across about 1/3 of the field,” and so returned it to the firm. Spencer replied that he could make a new objective nearly as cheap as he could remedy this, “for it is one of my first glasses.” Accepting the inevitable, Stowell ordered a new 1/18. We have not yet measure the objective, but note that it does not appear to have a crack.
Spencer referred to the stand of this microscope as a Pritchard, recognizing that the form had been popularized by Andrew Pritchard, an important London naturalist and optician. The “C. A. & H. Spencer / Canastota, N.Y.” inscription on the tube refers to the partnership between Charles A. Spencer and his cousin Hamilton, a partnership that began around 1848 and ended around 1854.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1849-1859
associated dates
1990-04-10
maker
C. A. & H. Spencer
ID Number
1990.0183.01
catalog number
1990.0183.01
accession number
1990.0183
Small compound monocular microscope with coarse and fine focus, square stage, inclination joint, condenser on an arm, sub-stage mirror, and solid base.
Description
Small compound monocular microscope with coarse and fine focus, square stage, inclination joint, condenser on an arm, sub-stage mirror, and solid base. The “NACHET ET FILS / rue Serpente, 16, Paris” inscription refers to an important French optical firm that was begun by Camille Sebastien Nachet in 1839, that became Nachet et Fils around mid-century, and that moved from this address around 1862.
Ref: Nachet et Fils, Catalogue Descriptive des Instruments de Micrographie (Paris, 1863), p. 12.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1856-1862
maker
Nachet et Fils
ID Number
1991.0682.01
catalog number
1991.0682.01
accession number
1991.0682
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
MG.M-12196
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12196
This is a simple compound monocular with push-tube focus, inclination joint, square stage, sub-stage mirror, and square base.
Description
This is a simple compound monocular with push-tube focus, inclination joint, square stage, sub-stage mirror, and square base. It comes in a green wooden chest which also holds slides, apparatus for simple chemical experiments, and a “Microscope Manual of Instructions.”
This was made and marketed by A.C. Gilbert, a toy company that was established in Westville, Ct., in 1909, and that introduced the Erector Set a few years later. Gilbert began offering microscopes for children in 1932.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1938
maker
A. C. Gilbert Company
ID Number
1983.0656.01
catalog number
1983.0656.01
accession number
1983.0656
This case held electron microscope (EM) grids used in the lab of Stanley Cohen at Stanford University. Made from tiny circles of copper mesh, EM grids are analogous to the glass slides used to mount samples for viewing under a light microscope.
Description (Brief)
This case held electron microscope (EM) grids used in the lab of Stanley Cohen at Stanford University. Made from tiny circles of copper mesh, EM grids are analogous to the glass slides used to mount samples for viewing under a light microscope. These grids were used to support recombinant bacteria and recombinant plasmids for study and analysis under the electron microscope. One of the grids contains a sample of Cohen and Boyer’s first recombinant plasmid. Photographic images of the first recombinant plasmids used in publications on Cohen and Boyer’s research were made from these grids.
For more information on the Cohen/Boyer experiments with recombinant DNA, see object 1987.0757.01
Sources:
Accession File
“EM Grid Preparation.” Purdue University. Accessed December 2012. http://bilbo.bio.purdue.edu/~baker/documentation/sample_and_prep/b2.htm
Location
Currently not on view
user
Cohen, Stanley N.
ID Number
1987.0757.07.02
catalog number
1987.0757.07.02
accession number
1987.0757
Compound monocular microscope with several objectives, and a sub-stage mirror that fits onto one leg of the trileg base. The whole fits into a wooden case covered with leather.Currently not on view
Description
Compound monocular microscope with several objectives, and a sub-stage mirror that fits onto one leg of the trileg base. The whole fits into a wooden case covered with leather.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
1988.0023.01
catalog number
1988.0023.01
accession number
1988.0023
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Physician’s microscope in 1877, boasting that it was “firm and well balanced” and well adapted “to the use of physicians and students.” The stand and wooden case cost $40; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $65.
Description
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Physician’s microscope in 1877, boasting that it was “firm and well balanced” and well adapted “to the use of physicians and students.” The stand and wooden case cost $40; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $65. Ernst Gundlach, the Prussian immigrant who had become superintendent of the firm’s new microscope department in 1876, was largely responsible for the form.
This example is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, rectangular stage, inclination joint, sub-stage aperture ring with three holes, two-sided sub-stage mirror, curvaceous base, and wooden box with three objectives in brass cases. The body and tube are nickel-plated brass; the base is black iron; the stage is heavy glass. The inscription on the tube reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. ROCHESTER, N.Y.” That on the connection between tube and pillar reads “Pat. Oct. 3. 1876.” That on the metal slide holder reads “PAT. DEC. 25 ’77.” The 1014 serial number on the card in the box suggests a date around 1879.
Ref: Bausch & Lomb, Price List of Microscopes (Rochester, 1877), p. 6.
“New Physician’s Microscope,” American Naturalist 11 (1877): 572.
Ernst Gundlach, “Microscopes,” U.S. Patent 182,919 (Oct. 3, 1876).
Ernst Gundlach, “Moveable Slide Holder,” U.S. Patent 198,607 (Dec. 25, 1877).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1879
ID Number
1983.0826.01
catalog number
1983.0826.01
accession number
1983.0826
Compound monocular microscope with push-pull focus and micrometer screw, trunnion, sub-stage diaphragm, Lister limb with sub-stage mirror, black base, and wooden box. The “J. W. QUEEN.
Description
Compound monocular microscope with push-pull focus and micrometer screw, trunnion, sub-stage diaphragm, Lister limb with sub-stage mirror, black base, and wooden box. The “J. W. QUEEN. PHILA / 186” inscription suggests that it was made in the 1850s, before the firm became James W. Queen & Co. Queen was still offering instruments of this sort in the 1870s.
Queen termed this “Dr. Woodward’s Student’s Microscope,” noting that it was the “most satisfactory microscope ever offered to the student.” It was identical to Queen’s Table microscope but had a micrometer adjustment for focus. The lenses are achromatic.
This was probably designed in conjunction with J. J. (Joseph Janvier) Woodward, a young physician who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1853, and then gave private lessons in microscopy. Woodward became an assistant surgeon with the Union Army in 1861.
Ref: James W. Queen & Co., Illustrated Catalogue of Mathematical, Optical, and Philosophical Instruments (Philadelphia, 1859), pp. 26-27.
James W. Queen & Co., Priced and Illustrated Catalogue of Optical Instruments (Philadelphia, 1874), p. 51.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
maker
Queen, James W.
ID Number
1989.0378.01.1
catalog number
1989.0378.01.1
accession number
1989.0378
Dissecting microscope with square stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, circular base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The inscription reads “NO. 3309 WETZLAR E. LEITZ.” The serial number indicates a date of 1879.Currently not on view
Description
Dissecting microscope with square stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, circular base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The inscription reads “NO. 3309 WETZLAR E. LEITZ.” The serial number indicates a date of 1879.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879
maker
Ernst Leitz
ID Number
MG.328761
catalog number
328761
accession number
308252
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Small Continental in 1891. This example is a New Continental BB of the sort introduced three years later.
Description
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Small Continental in 1891. This example is a New Continental BB of the sort introduced three years later. It is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece (one is missing), inclination joint, large rectangular stage with vulcanite top, sub-stage iris diaphragm, sub-stage two-sided mirror, and large horseshoe base. The inscription on the base reads “Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. / ROCHESTER, N.Y. & NEW YORK CITY.” The 16666 serial number, on a circular tag on the back of the base, indicates a date of 1894.
Ref: Henry Bausch, “New American Microscopes, made by Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, N.Y.,” Proceedings of the American Society of Microscopists 13 (1891): 116-119.
“A New Continental Microscope,” Proceedings of the American Society of Microscopists 15 (Oct. 1894): 12-14.
Bausch & Lomb, Microscopes and Accessories (Rochester and New York, 1895), pp. 4-5.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1895-1898
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
MG.M-12201
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12201
Compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece, large square stage covered with vulcanite, inclination joint, sub-stage mirror on moveable arm, horseshoe base, and wooden box with extra objectives. The “E.
Description
Compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece, large square stage covered with vulcanite, inclination joint, sub-stage mirror on moveable arm, horseshoe base, and wooden box with extra objectives. The “E. LEITZ WETZLAR / No 28939” inscription indicates a date of 1893.
William Rush Dunton, Jr. (1868-1966) acquired this microscope in 1894, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and before beginning a residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Dunton later promoted physical therapy for psychiatric patients, and called attention to his familial connections with Benjamin Rush, Philadelphia physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1894
maker
Ernst Leitz
ID Number
MG.M-13883.02
accession number
300972
catalog number
M-13883.02
Microscope used by Charles Valentine Riley (1845-1895), a British-born entomologist who settled in the United States, worked for the Smithsonian Institution, and convinced Congress to create the United States Entomological Commission.
Description
Microscope used by Charles Valentine Riley (1845-1895), a British-born entomologist who settled in the United States, worked for the Smithsonian Institution, and convinced Congress to create the United States Entomological Commission. It is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece, inclination joint, circular stage, and sub-stage iris diaphragm; the sub-stage mirror is missing. The inscription on the tri-leg base reads “Queen & Co. Philada” and “1392.”
This appears to be an Acme No. 3. Sidle & Poalk began making Acme microscopes in 1879. By 1880, the firm had moved from Philadelphia to Lancaster, and was trading as John W. Sidle & Co. and/or the Acme Optical Works. Queen & Co. took over production soon thereafter.
Describing the Queen business in April 1888, a reporter for Scientific American noted that “The microscopes of the various ‘Acme’ patterns are made here, these being finished up in lots of from 25 to 50 of a kind; many of the parts are made up by hundreds at a time. As the best drawn steel pinions to be found in the market have proved to be of insufficient exactness to make a perfect rack and pinion movement, all the pinions and racks used here in the manufacture of microscopes are cut by fine machinery specially adapted to this work. To secure smoothness in motion, each rack and pinion is ‘ground in.’ The making and adjustment of the rack and pinion is one of the most vital points of a microscope; indeed, it is an art of itself.”
Ref: James W. Queen & Co., Priced and Illustrated Catalogue of Microscopes and Accessories (Philadelphia, 1890), pp. 46-48.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1900
maker
James W. Queen & Co.
ID Number
MG.124271
catalog number
M-9780
accession number
124271
Small compound monocular model VIb microscope with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece, circular stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, horseshoe base, and wooden box with extra lenses.
Description
Small compound monocular model VIb microscope with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece, circular stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, horseshoe base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The inscriptions read “CARL ZEISS / JENA” and “GERMANY.” The “62195” serial number indicates a date of around 1913. Another inscription reads “Neuro Lab, H.P.F.G.” A brass plate in the box reads “IMPORTED BY / ARTHUR H. THOMAS CO. PHILADELPHIA.” There are two Zeiss objectives, and two cases for Leitz objectives.
This was used by Adolf Meyer (1866-1950), the Swiss-born physician who joined the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1913, served as psychiatrist-in-chief at the hospital until 1941, and played a major role in establishing psychiatry as a clinical science.
Ref: S. D. Lamb, Pathologist of the Mind. Adolf Meyer and the Origins of American Psychiatry (Baltimore, 2014).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
maker
Zeiss, Carl
ID Number
MG.M-10348.02
catalog number
M-10348.02
accession number
242933
Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a medical microscopist and professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, showed an example of “Blankley’s neat and convenient tank microscope, made by Swift of London” at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Description
Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a medical microscopist and professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, showed an example of “Blankley’s neat and convenient tank microscope, made by Swift of London” at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Troy, N.Y., in August 1870. Frederick Blankley, an active member of the Royal Microscopical Society in London, had introduced the form earlier that year. The Swift in question was the well-known optician, James Swift.
This example, a compound monocular mounted on a brass pole, resembles the instrument designed by Blankley, but carries no indication that it was made by Swift.
Ref: “A Revolving Stage and a Tank 3 (1870): 209-210.
“Report on the Microscopes and Microscopical Apparatus Exhibited at the Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Troy, N.Y., August 1870,” Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 19 (1870): 381-384, on 384.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Swift, James
ID Number
MG.M-09727
accession number
174919
catalog number
M-09727
174919.12
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Investigator microscope in 1880, telling the American Society of Microscopists that they “confidently claim to have reached a higher degree of perfection than is possessed by any one approximating it in price.” Three years later, the firm termed thi
Description
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Investigator microscope in 1880, telling the American Society of Microscopists that they “confidently claim to have reached a higher degree of perfection than is possessed by any one approximating it in price.” Three years later, the firm termed this a “moderate-priced instrument” with “features of a first-class and high-priced stand.” At that time, the instrument and case cost $40; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $65. In the 1890s, Bausch & Lomb termed this an American Type Microscope, model H. With triple nosepiece, as here, it cost $81.50.
This example is of that sort. It is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, inclination joint, triple nosepiece, circular stage, sub-stage dome diaphragm and double-sided mirror attach to a bar that can be angled up and down, and trileg base. The inscription on the stage reads “Bausch & Lomb / Optical Co.” The inscription on the arm reads “PAT. OCT. 3, 1876 / PAT. OCT. 13, 1885.” There are three objectives: one by Bausch & Lomb, and two by Spencer & Smith.
Ref: “Microscopes and Objectives by the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company,” in J. Edwards Smith, How to See with the Microscope (Chicago, 1880), pp. 344-345.
Bausch & Lomb, Price List of Microscopes, Objectives and Accessories (Rochester, 1883), pp. 22-23.
Bausch & Lomb, Microscope, Microtomes, Apparatus for Photo-Micrography, and Bacteriology Laboratory Supplies (Rochester and New York, 1896), pp. 38-39.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
maker
Bausch & Lomb
ID Number
MG.M-12200
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12200
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Physician’s microscope in 1877, boasting that it was “firm and well balanced” and well adapted “to the use of physicians and students.” The stand and case cost $40; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $65.
Description
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Physician’s microscope in 1877, boasting that it was “firm and well balanced” and well adapted “to the use of physicians and students.” The stand and case cost $40; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $65. Ernst Gundlach, the Prussian immigrant who had become superintendent of the firm’s new microscope department in 1876, was largely responsible for the form.
This example is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece, rectangular stage, inclination joint, sub-stage aperture ring with three different diaphragms, sub-stage mirror, curvaceous base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The body and tube are nickel-plated brass; the base is black iron; the stage is heavy glass. The inscription on the tube reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. ROCHESTER, N.Y.” That on the arm reads “PAT. OCT. 3. 1876.” That on the metal slide holder reads “PAT. DEC. 25, 77.”
This microscope was used by Robert Selden (1847-1921), a physician in Catskill, New York. The 1594 serial number on the card in the box indicates a date around 1881.
Ref: Bausch & Lomb, Price List of Microscopes (Rochester, 1877), p. 6.
Ernst Gundlach, “Microscopes,” U.S. Patent 182,919 (Oct. 3, 1876).
Ernst Gundlach, “Moveable Slide Holder,” U.S. Patent 198,607 (Dec. 25, 1877).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1881
maker
Bausch & Lomb
ID Number
MG.M-11497
accession number
262401
catalog number
M-11497
262401.01
Simple aquatic microscope that fits into and stands on a wooden case. It has a large stage, sub-stage mirror, and cylindrical stand, and is so designed that the observer can keep an eye on aquatic creatures as they move about.
Description
Simple aquatic microscope that fits into and stands on a wooden case. It has a large stage, sub-stage mirror, and cylindrical stand, and is so designed that the observer can keep an eye on aquatic creatures as they move about. The form was introduced in the 1740s by the English optician, John Cuff, at the behest of a Swiss naturalist named Abraham Trembley. In 1752, Cuff modified the microscope for the naturalist, John Ellis. That instrument, known as “Ellis’s aquatic microscope” and made by others, remained popular for years.
Ref: Savile Bradbury, The Evolution of the Microscope (Oxford, 1967), pp. 97-98.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.M-11154
accession number
258919
catalog number
M-11154
Rugged compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, square mechanical stage, trunion, and Lister limb with sub-stage mirror. The body is brass; the horseshoe base is black cast iron. The inscription reads “R.
Description
Rugged compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, square mechanical stage, trunion, and Lister limb with sub-stage mirror. The body is brass; the horseshoe base is black cast iron. The inscription reads “R. FIELD & SON / OPTICIANS / NEW STREET / BIRMINGHAM.” In 1855, Robert Field of Birmingham won the prize that the Society of Arts in London offered for the best microscope costing just three Guineas, and by 1861 he had sold some 1800 instruments of this sort.
Ref: William Carpenter, The Microscope and Its Revelations (London, 1868), p. 58.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850-1900
ID Number
MG.M-12346
catalog number
M-12346
282176.02
accession number
282176
Compound binocular microscope with coarse and fine focus, inter-ocular adjustment, trunnion, square mechanical stage, sub-stage diaphragm, Lister limb with sub-stage mirror, and a “J. SWIFT / 43 University St. / London. W.C.” inscription.
Description
Compound binocular microscope with coarse and fine focus, inter-ocular adjustment, trunnion, square mechanical stage, sub-stage diaphragm, Lister limb with sub-stage mirror, and a “J. SWIFT / 43 University St. / London. W.C.” inscription. James Swift was a microscope maker who began in business on his own in 1857, and worked at that address from 1872-1881.
Ref: G. L’E. Turner, The Great Age of the Microscope (Bristol, 1989), pp. 184-190.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872-1881
maker
Swift, James
ID Number
MG.302606.255
catalog number
302606.255
accession number
302606
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Large Continental in 1891, noting that “no efforts have been spared to make the stand the most complete and fitted with all modern improvements and appliances.” This example is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece (but o
Description
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Large Continental in 1891, noting that “no efforts have been spared to make the stand the most complete and fitted with all modern improvements and appliances.” This example is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece (but only one objective), inclination joint with clamp (the handle is made of celluloid), large circular stage, sub-stage Abbe condenser and iris diaphragm, and support for sub-stage mirror (the mirror is missing). The instrument is brass, the draw tube is nickel plated, and the stage is covered with vulcanized rubber. The inscription on the horseshoe base reads “Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. / ROCHESTER, N.Y. & NEW YORK CITY / 14317.” The serial number indicates a date around 1894.
Ref: Henry Bausch, “New American Microscopes, Made by Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, N.Y.,” Proceedings of the American Society of Microscopists 13 (1891): 116-119.
Bausch & Lomb, Microscopes and Accessories (Rochester and New York, 1895), pp. 8-10.
Henri Van Heurck, The Microscope (London, 1893), pp. 141-142.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1894
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
MG.M-12198
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12198
Nickel-plated dissecting microscope with a sub-stage mirror, heavy black base, removable hand rests, wooden box, and a “CARL ZEISS / JENA” inscription. The Zeiss firm began in 1846 and produced their 1000th microscope in 1866.
Description
Nickel-plated dissecting microscope with a sub-stage mirror, heavy black base, removable hand rests, wooden box, and a “CARL ZEISS / JENA” inscription. The Zeiss firm began in 1846 and produced their 1000th microscope in 1866. The “8947” serial number on this example suggests a date of around 1875.
This microscope belonged to Eugene Amandus Schwarz (1844-1928), a German entomologist who arrived in the United States in 1876, worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and served as honorary curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
Ref: Carl Zeiss, Microscopes and Microscopical Accessories (Jena, 1891), pp. 100-103.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
maker
Zeiss, Carl
ID Number
MG.162080.01
catalog number
M-09781
accession number
162080
catalog number
162080.01
This is an example of the Stand 4 that Zeiss introduced in the early twentieth century.
Description
This is an example of the Stand 4 that Zeiss introduced in the early twentieth century. It is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece, circular stage, trunnion, sub-stage diaphragm and condenser, sub-stage mirror, horseshoe base, and wooden box with three extra lenses. The inscription on the eye tube reads “CARL ZEISS / JENA / NO 29291.” Those on the stage read “CARL ZEISS / JENA” and “GERMANY” and “1200.”
Ref: Carl Zeiss, Zeiss Microscopes and Microscopical Accessories (Jena, 1906), pp. 52-53.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
Zeiss, Carl
ID Number
MG.M-11424
accession number
260035
catalog number
M-11424
Compound binocular microscope with inter-ocular adjustment, coarse and fine focus, trunnion, circular stage, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, Lister limb with sub-stage mirror, and Y-shaped base.
Description
Compound binocular microscope with inter-ocular adjustment, coarse and fine focus, trunnion, circular stage, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, Lister limb with sub-stage mirror, and Y-shaped base. Accessories include a bullseye condenser with stand, glass stage, forceps, slides, objectives signed Tolles, R. & J. Beck, and W. Wales, and a wooden case. The “BAKER / 244 High Holborn / London” inscription refers to Charles Baker, a prolific instrument maker who began in business in 1851.
Francis Herbert Wenham (b. 1824), an English engineer and active microscopist, designed a four-sided prism suitable for binocular microscopes around 1860. Several London opticians were offering instruments of this sort by 1861, and some showed examples at the London Exhibition of 1862. Baker began advertising binocular microscopes in 1867; the Royal Microscopical Society bought an example the following year.
Ref: “Wenham’s Binocular Microscope,” The London Review (May 4, 1861): 525-526.
G. L’E. Turner, The Great Age of the Microscope (Bristol, 1989), pp. 100-101.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1900
maker
Baker, Charles
ID Number
MG.316408.01
catalog number
316408.01
accession number
316408
Simple aquatic microscope that fits into and stands on a wooden case covered with fabric. It has a large stage, sub-stage mirror, and cylindrical stand, and is so designed that the observer can keep an eye on aquatic creatures as they move about.
Description
Simple aquatic microscope that fits into and stands on a wooden case covered with fabric. It has a large stage, sub-stage mirror, and cylindrical stand, and is so designed that the observer can keep an eye on aquatic creatures as they move about. The form was introduced in the 1740s by the English optician, John Cuff, at the behest of Abraham Trembley, a Swiss naturalist. In 1752, Cuff modified the microscope for the naturalist, John Ellis. That form, known as “Ellis’s aquatic microscope” and made by others, remained popular for years.
Ref: Savile Bradbury, The Evolution of the Microscope (Oxford, 1967), pp. 97-98.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.M-09890
accession number
237039
catalog number
M-9890

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