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
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