Monocular Compound Microscope · Atkins Library: Exhibits

Monocular Compound Microscope

Item

Title

Monocular Compound Microscope

Description

The compound microscope is made from lacquered brass and the Y-shaped foot is permanently attached to a mahogany platform. The monocular microscope has a mechanical stage which can be adjusted along a X and Y axis via two thumbscrews. One of the thumbscrews moves the stage horizontally; however, the vertical adjustment no longer works due to a hole in the adjustment gear. The coarse focusing is achieved via a rack and pinion mechanism which moves the body-tube closer or further away from the fixed square stage. Fine focusing functions via a thumbscrew located at the bottom of the body-tube. The stage has two holes on either side of the corners which can hold accessories such as stage forceps or bullseye condenser, however, no accessories come with the microscope. The sub-stage concave mirror is one-sided and is attached to the pillar. The style of the microscope is similar to the Robert Fields' 1855 Society of the Arts winning design. The fitted mahogany case is original to the microscope, which has a brass carry handle on the top of the case. The interior has 5 circular sections to hold the objectives and ocular lenses that come with the microscope. There is a small draw located in the top of the interior which holds slides. The keyhole escutcheon matches that of other Beck microscope images, so it may be by produced by R & J Beck.

The microscope comes with the following accessories: 2 ocular lenses, 4 objective lenses with 3 brass canisters: 1/4 6 mm A R&J Beck Ltd, 1/8 ON London. (the stamps are faded), other two lenses are unsigned, 3 glass slides: 1 with specimen, 2 clear slides and 1 key for lock of case.

Condition:

Cosmetically: The lacquered brass is in good condition with some stains from age and use, especially on the underside of the body-tube.
Optically: The lenses are clear and functional. One of the ocular lenses has some marks but still functional.
Mechanically: The function to move the mechanical stage vertically does not work.

Subject

Microscopes

Creator

Unsigned

Source

Dean Reynold's Microscope Collection Powerpoint https://www.microscopehistory.com/field--son-society-of-arts

Publisher

UNC Charlotte

Date

c. 1850s

Contributor

Laura Burgess

Rights

Texts and images from this collection may not be used for any commercial purpose without prior permission from the Graduate Office, UNC Charlotte.

Relation

N/A

Format

Microscope: 15" closed (including platform), 17 1/2" extended (including platform)
Case: 16" x 7.5"x 6"

Language

N/A

Type

Three-dimensional object

Identifier

100628

Coverage

England

Item sets

Tags

Society of Arts Design