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.
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