Science & Mathematics

Chemical Balance

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.

Resource Type: Microscopes

Microscope

This is a low-power brass microscope with lens holder, stage, sub-stage mirror, and cylindrical stand. It fits into and stands on a small leather-covered box. Robert Bancks (or Banks), a mathematical and optical instrument maker in London, designed the form around 1830.
Description
This is a low-power brass microscope with lens holder, stage, sub-stage mirror, and cylindrical stand. It fits into and stands on a small leather-covered box. Robert Bancks (or Banks), a mathematical and optical instrument maker in London, designed the form around 1830. This example was collected by Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a noted medical microscopist, or his son, Henry B. Ward, a early parasitologist. The “Bate / LONDON” inscription on the stage refers to Robert Brettell Bate.
Ref: Brian J. Ford, “Charles Darwin and Robert Brown—their microscopes and the microscopic image,” infocus (Sept. 15, 2009): 19-28.
Anita McConnell, R. B. Bate of the Poultry, 1782-1847: The Life and Times of a Scientific Instrument Maker (London, 1993).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1830-1847
maker
Bate, Robert Brettell
ID Number
MG.M-09731
accession number
174919
catalog number
M-9731

Microscope

Compound monocular microscope with lens throwing light on the stage, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage mirror, and black horseshoe base.Currently not on view
Description
Compound monocular microscope with lens throwing light on the stage, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage mirror, and black horseshoe base.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
ID Number
1978.0292.05
catalog number
1978.0292.05
accession number
1978.0292

Microscope

With the brass tube in place, this is a compound monocular with circular stage and sub-stage mirror. With the tube removed, it is a simple microscope.
Description
With the brass tube in place, this is a compound monocular with circular stage and sub-stage mirror. With the tube removed, it is a simple microscope. The form was introduced by George Adams, Jr., of London, in the late-eighteenth century, and remained popular for several decades. Examples by various English makers have been recorded. This example has a wooden box, and several ivory sliders. The “R. Huntley / 52 High Holborn / LONDON” inscription is that of Robert Huntley, an instrument maker in business from 1811-1840. A paper label inside the box reads “WILLIAM HARRIS & CO. / MANUFACTURERS . . . / cleaned & adjusted, Jan. 9, 1838.”
This microscope belonged to Augustus Alvey Adee (1802-1844), a Yale graduate who served a surgeon in the U.S. Navy.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1811-1835
maker
Huntley, Robert
ID Number
MG.M-09778
catalog number
M-9778
accession number
100338
catalog number
100338.01

Microscope

This is a simple dissecting microscope with rack-and-pinion, moveable lens carrier, large glass stage, sub-stage mirror, and wooden case. The inscription reads “E. Leitz Wetzlar / New - York / 411. W. 59.
Description
This is a simple dissecting microscope with rack-and-pinion, moveable lens carrier, large glass stage, sub-stage mirror, and wooden case. The inscription reads “E. Leitz Wetzlar / New - York / 411. W. 59. Str.”
Ludwig Leitz and William Krafft, both of Wetzlar, came to the United States in 1893, and Krafft began in business as a microscope importer at 30 E. 23rd St., New York. The firm became Ernst Leitz Microscopes at that address in 1903, and moved to 411 W. 59th St. in 1904.
Ref: Ernst Leitz, Microscopes and Accessory Apparatus (Wetzlar, 1907), pp. 82-83.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Ernst Leitz
ID Number
2009.0116.07
catalog number
2009.0116.07
accession number
2009.0116

Dissecting Microscope

Dissecting microscope with a nickel-plated tube, two lenses, square glass stage, sub-stage mirror, black horseshoe base, and wooden case. The inscription reads “Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.” and the 61518 serial number suggests a date of around 1906.
Description
Dissecting microscope with a nickel-plated tube, two lenses, square glass stage, sub-stage mirror, black horseshoe base, and wooden case. The inscription reads “Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.” and the 61518 serial number suggests a date of around 1906. According to trade literature, the form (Stand Y) was the largest and most complete of the Bausch & Lomb dissecting microscopes, and was first constructed according to the specifications of Paul Meyer, a German scientist who was a leader of the Naples Zoological Station in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Ref: Bausch & Lomb, Microscopes and Accessories (Rochester, 1908), pp. 53-54.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Bausch & Lomb
ID Number
MG.211531.18
catalog number
M-09789
accession number
211531

Microscope

This is a compound monocular with side pillar, focusing screw and sub-stage mirror that fits into and flips up from a rectangular wooden chest that also holds extra lenses, slides and other accessories.
Description
This is a compound monocular with side pillar, focusing screw and sub-stage mirror that fits into and flips up from a rectangular wooden chest that also holds extra lenses, slides and other accessories. The “NAIRNE INVT ET FECIT LONDON” inscription on the stage refers to Edward Nairne, a prolific optician and instrument maker who began in business around 1750, who introduced this type of chest microscope around 1760, and began trading as Nairne & Blunt in 1773.
Ref: Directions how to use the Compound Microscope, as Made and Sold by Edward Nairne, at the Golden Spectacles fronting the North-Gate of the Royal-Exchange, London.
Description and Use of the Compound Microscope, As made and sold by Edward Nairne, At No. 20 in Cornhill, Opposite the Royal Exchange, London.
D. J. Warner, “Edward Nairne: Scientist and Instrument Maker,” Rittenhouse 12 (1998): 65-93.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1760-1773
maker
Nairne, Edward
ID Number
MG.M-12345
accession number
282176
catalog number
M-12345

Microscope

This is a compound monocular designed for petrographic work. It has coarse and fine focus, analyzer in the tube, square stage with circular top graduated to degrees, sub-stage polarizer, sub-stage mirror, heavy horseshoe base, and wooden box.
Description
This is a compound monocular designed for petrographic work. It has coarse and fine focus, analyzer in the tube, square stage with circular top graduated to degrees, sub-stage polarizer, sub-stage mirror, heavy horseshoe base, and wooden box. The inscription on the tube reads “Dr. E. Hartnack / Potsdam.” The serial number “19544” appears on a smaller wooden box that holds seven lenses. A brass plate on the box reads “C. Whitman Cross.”
Edmund Hartnack (1826-1891) was an accomplished microscope maker in Paris who received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bonn in 1868, moved to Potsdam in 1870, at the start of the Franco-Prussian War, and adopted the "Dr. E. Hartnack" signature in 1879.
Charles Whitman Cross (1854-1959) was an American geologist who graduated from Amherst College, studied in Göttingen, and received a PhD from the University of Leipzig. His dissertation was supervised by Ferdinand Zirkel, an early proponent of microscopical petrography, the practice of using a polarizing microscope to observe thin sections of rocks. Joining the U.S. Geological Survey, Cross specialized in the classification of igneous rocks. He became an active member of the National Academy of Sciences, and an Associate in Petrology at the Smithsonian Institution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
Hartnack, Edmund
ID Number
2014.0264.02
catalog number
2014.0264.02
accession number
2014.0264

Microscope

The Universal microscope that Bausch & Lomb introduced in 1884 was similar to the popular Investigator but larger and heavier and equipped with several new features. The basic stand with case cost $55; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $80. This example of that sort.
Description
The Universal microscope that Bausch & Lomb introduced in 1884 was similar to the popular Investigator but larger and heavier and equipped with several new features. The basic stand with case cost $55; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $80. This example of that sort. It is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, bullseye condenser attached to the body, large circular mechanical stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and iris diaphragm, sub-stage two-sided mirror, and tri-leg base. The inscription on the stage reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO.” That on the arm reads “PAT. OCT. 3 1876.”
Ref: Bausch & Lomb, Microscopes, Objectives and Accessories (Rochester, N.Y., 1884), pp. 20-22.
Ernst Gundlach, “Microscopes,” U.S. Patent 182,919 (Oct. 3, 1876).
Julius Wilhelm Behrens, The Microscope in Botany (Boston, 1885), pp. 21-22 and pl. xi.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1876-1884
maker
Bausch & Lomb
ID Number
2009.0116.15
catalog number
2009.0116.15
accession number
2009.0116

Microscope

The Professional, Bausch & Lomb’s first high-end microscope, was on the market by 1877 and, with a full set of accessories, could cost as much as $200.
Description
The Professional, Bausch & Lomb’s first high-end microscope, was on the market by 1877 and, with a full set of accessories, could cost as much as $200. Bausch & Lomb renamed it the American Type Microscope, Model K, Professional in the 1890s, boasting that it “may be considered as the highest attainment in microscopical construction in design, solidity and practical utility of the various parts.”
This example is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece, trunnion, circular mechanical stage, elaborate sub-stage diaphragm and condenser, support for sub-stage mirror, and tri-leg base. The inscription on the base reads “Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. / ROCHESTER N.Y. AND NEW YORK CITY.” A note in the Accession file states that the serial number is 11088, indicating a date around 1892. At that time, Bausch & Lomb serial numbers appeared on a card in the microscope box, and not on the microscope itself.
Ref: Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Price List of Microscopes, Objectives and Accessories (Rochester, N.Y., 1883), pp. 24-25.
Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Microscopes, Microtomes, Apparatus for Photo-Micrography, and Bacteriology (Rochester, 1896), p. 43.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
maker
Bausch & Lomb
ID Number
MG.M-09779
catalog number
M-09779
accession number
100338
catalog number
100338.02

Microscope

This portable microscope model BPP is a compound monocular with rack-and-pinion, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, bar for sub-stage mirror, and collapsible V-shaped base. The mirror and lenses are missing from this example.
Description
This portable microscope model BPP is a compound monocular with rack-and-pinion, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, bar for sub-stage mirror, and collapsible V-shaped base. The mirror and lenses are missing from this example. The inscription reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. / Rochester, N.Y. / B L / Z S/ 89205.” Bausch & Lomb boasted that “For physicians, veterinarians, agriculturists and others who desire a microscope for use in the field, there is none superior. The U.S. Government has put it in use after severe competitive trials.”
The “B L Z S” inscription refers to the 1907-1915 association of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., the Carl Zeiss Optical Works, and George N. Saegmuller.
Ref: Bausch & Lomb, Microscopes and Accessories (Rochester, N.Y., 1907), pp. 30-31.
Bausch & Lomb, A Triple Alliance in Optics (Rochester, 1908
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1907-1915
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
MG.M-12209
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12209

Microscope

Brass screw barrel microscope with several lenses, ivory handle, six ivory slides, and wooden box covered with dark fish skin. James Wilson, an optical instrument maker in London, described the form in 1702.
Description
Brass screw barrel microscope with several lenses, ivory handle, six ivory slides, and wooden box covered with dark fish skin. James Wilson, an optical instrument maker in London, described the form in 1702. He did not make the first instruments of this sort, and never claimed to, but the form was often associated with him.
Ref: James Wilson, “The Description and Manner of Using a Late Invented Set of Small Pocket-Microscopes, Made by James Wilson,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 23 (1702): 1241-1247.
Reginald Clay and Thomas Court, The History of the Microscope (London, 1932), pp. 44-50.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1730-1760
ID Number
1991.0664.0906
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-06302
collector/donor number
SAP 994
catalog number
1991.0664.0906

Microscope

The Spencer Model 58S is a binocular dissecting microscope with goose neck arm, rack-and-pinion focus, and wrought iron horseshoe base. The form was new in 1917. This example dates from around 1923.
Description
The Spencer Model 58S is a binocular dissecting microscope with goose neck arm, rack-and-pinion focus, and wrought iron horseshoe base. The form was new in 1917. This example dates from around 1923. The eyepiece is marked “SPENCER / BUFFALO / USA / 79239” and the stage is missing.
Ref: Spencer Lens Co., Catalog of Spencer Products (Buffalo, N.Y., 1917), pp. 62-63.
Spencer Lens Co., Catalog of Spencer Products (Buffalo, N.Y., 1924), p. 38.
date made
ca 1923
maker
Spencer Lens Company
ID Number
MG.M-09798
accession number
226637
catalog number
M-09798

Microscope

This compound monocular is a Spencer Model 44 with coarse and fine focus, curved arm, triple nosepiece, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, Y-shaped base, and wooden box with extra lenses.
Description
This compound monocular is a Spencer Model 44 with coarse and fine focus, curved arm, triple nosepiece, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, Y-shaped base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The inscription reads “SPENCER / BUFFALO / USA / 49300.” The serial number indicates a date of 1918.
The Spencer Lens Co. boasted in 1920 that the No. 44 was “the most popular of all Spencer Microscopes. Thousands are now in daily use in medical and general laboratories, also by physicians.” In 1930, the No. 44 was “the most popular of all Spencer microscopes for routine work in the laboratory of the hospital, medical school, or general practitioner.” It was “simple in design and durable in construction,” and “fully meets all standard requirements.”
Ref: Spencer Lens Co., Catalog of Spencer Microscopes, Microtomes and Accessories (Buffalo, 1920), pp. 32-33.
Spencer Lens Co., Catalogue (Buffalo, N.Y., 1930), p. 17.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1918
maker
Spencer Lens Company
ID Number
MG.M-11423
accession number
260035
catalog number
M-11423
260035.06

Microscope

Marc-Antoine Gaudin (1804-1880) was a French scientist and photographer who developed simple microscopes with rock crystal lenses. This example ofa Gaudin-type magnifier belonged to Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a medical microscopist, or his son, Henry B.
Description
Marc-Antoine Gaudin (1804-1880) was a French scientist and photographer who developed simple microscopes with rock crystal lenses. This example ofa Gaudin-type magnifier belonged to Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a medical microscopist, or his son, Henry B. Ward, a parasitologist.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
ID Number
MG.174919.31
catalog number
174919.31
accession number
174919
catalog number
M-09746

Microscope

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

Microscope

This is a small drum microscope with push-pull focus, and sub-stage mirror in a cylindrical base. This was owned by Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a noted medical microscopist, or his son, Henry B. Ward, a pioneering parasitologist.Currently not on view
Description
This is a small drum microscope with push-pull focus, and sub-stage mirror in a cylindrical base. This was owned by Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a noted medical microscopist, or his son, Henry B. Ward, a pioneering parasitologist.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
MG.M-09729
accession number
174919
catalog number
M-09729
174919.1

Microscope

In the mid-1870s, The Industrial Publication Co.
Description
In the mid-1870s, The Industrial Publication Co. of New York offered a “Handy Compound Pocket Microscope” that cost $7.50 and was “capable of giving a clear and well defined view of the general form of such objects as urinary deposits, diatoms, desmids, etc.” This example seems to be of that sort. It is a tiny monocular with push-pull focus, rectangular stage, sub-stage mirror, inclination joint, and circular base.
Ref: “Handy Compound Pocket Microscope,” The Technologist, or Industrial Monthly 5 (1874): 108.
The Industrial Publication Co., Priced and Descriptive Catalogue of Microscopes and Accessory Apparatus and Instruments (New York, n.d.): back cover.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1874
ID Number
MG.256202.01
accession number
256202
catalog number
256202.01

Microscope

Compound monocular microscope with three S-shaped legs of the sort designed in the 1720s by the English optician, Edmund Culpeper. The body is brass. The base is wood, as is the triangular case. A drawer in the base holds extra parts.Currently not on view
Description
Compound monocular microscope with three S-shaped legs of the sort designed in the 1720s by the English optician, Edmund Culpeper. The body is brass. The base is wood, as is the triangular case. A drawer in the base holds extra parts.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.281267.10
catalog number
M-12324
accession number
281267

Microscope

Compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece, circular mechanical stage, inclination joint, sub-stage apparatus with condenser, and sub-stage mirror.
Description
Compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece, circular mechanical stage, inclination joint, sub-stage apparatus with condenser, and sub-stage mirror. The inscription on the black curvaceous base reads “ERNST LEITZ / WETZLAR / No 237868.” The serial number indicates a date around 1926. Leitz offered this as a “Medium-Sized Research Microscope” that it incorporated the fine adjustment mechanism developed and patented by August Bauer.
Ref: Ernst Leitz, Leitz Microscopes (New York, 1929), pp. 66-67.
August Bauer, “Microscope,” U.S. Patent 1,429,577 (1922).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1926
maker
Ernst Leitz
ID Number
1984.0640.01
accession number
1984.0640
catalog number
1984.0640.01

Microscope

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

Microscope

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

Microscope

Compound binocular with interocular adjustment, coarse and fine focus, trunnion, triple nosepiece, circular mechanical stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, and wooden box with extra lenses.
Description
Compound binocular with interocular adjustment, coarse and fine focus, trunnion, triple nosepiece, circular mechanical stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, and wooden box with extra lenses. The inscription on the curved base reads “HENRY CROUCH / LONDON / 1209.”
Henry Crouch and his brother William were in business in London by 1864, offering relatively inexpensive microscopes, and noting that they were “From Smith, Beck & Beck.” Henry Crouch was working on his own by 1869. James W. Queen & Co., of Philadelphia, was selling Crouch microscopes by 1870. Crouch spent several months in the United States in 1876, displaying his wares at the Centennial Exhibition, and meeting American microscopists.
Richard Halsted Ward, physician and professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, showed an instrument of this sort at an American microscope meeting in 1869. James Milton Flint—a surgeon with the U.S. Navy who had been detailed to the United States National Museum in 1881, to take care of its newly established Section of Materia Medica—showed another at an exhibition in 1891.
Ref: “Price List of Microscopes Manufactured by Henry Crouch, of London,” American Journal of Microscopy 2 (1877).
“Report on the Microscopes and Microscopical Apparatus, Exhibited at the Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, At Salem, Mass., August, 1869,” Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 18 (1869): 303-306, on 306.
James M. Flint, “Apparatus for the Exhibition of Microscopic Objects,” Proceedings of the American Society of Microscopists 13 (1891): 54-58.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1869
maker
Crouch, Henry
ID Number
2009.0116.09
catalog number
2009.0116.09
accession number
2009.0116

Microscope

This is a compound monocular with rack-and-pinion for coarse adjustment, micrometer screw for fine adjustment, trunion, mechanical stage, and Lister limb holding a polarizing prism and a sub-stage mirror. The base is a reverse V. The “PIKE / MAKER / 518 Broadway / NEW YORK / No.
Description
This is a compound monocular with rack-and-pinion for coarse adjustment, micrometer screw for fine adjustment, trunion, mechanical stage, and Lister limb holding a polarizing prism and a sub-stage mirror. The base is a reverse V. The “PIKE / MAKER / 518 Broadway / NEW YORK / No. 121” inscription refers to a family of English immigrants, some of whom were at this address from the mid-1850s to the mid-1870s.
With this instrument there is a set of tubes and eyepieces for a compound binocular.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850-1875
maker
Pike, Jr., Benjamin
ID Number
PH.336595
catalog number
336595
accession number
1978.0511

Microscope

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

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.