Society of Arts-Style Compound Microscope

Item

Title

Society of Arts-Style Compound Microscope

Description

The monocular microscope has a Ross Y-shaped foot which is secured to a mahogany platform. The compound microscope is made of brass. The one-sided sub-stage mirror is attached to the bottom of the limb by a gimbal joint that allows it to be maneuvered to catch the light. Coarse focusing is achieved by a rack and pinion mechanism which is controlled by a thumbscrew at the side of the limb. The small thumbscrew at the back of the body-tube by the nose piece controls the fine focusing. The square fixed stage does not seem to have any means of securing specimens. The substage iris diaphragm that can be adjusted by rotating the disk. This microscope design followed the 1854 Society of Arts pattern. The fitted, solid mahogany case has brass hinge and handle. The lock is missing and the door is slightly warped. There are shrinkage cracks to the rear panel.
The microscope comes with the following accessories: 3 objectives: 1", 1/4" and 1 uncovered, 1 mirror, 1 live box, stage forceps, 1 frog/fish plate and 2 eye pieces.
Condition:

Cosmetically: The Ross Y-shaped foot does not retain much lacquer but it has a clear mirror. The frog/fish plate has screws replaced.
Optically: The lenses are functional.
Mechanically: Everything works smoothly although this microscope appears to have been made for a right-handed person as the left-hand knob is missing.

Subject

Microscopes

Creator

Unsigned

Source

Dean Reynold's Microscope Collection Powerpoint

Publisher

UNC Charlotte

Date

c. 1875

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: 13" closed, 16" extended
Case: 14 1/4" x 7 1/2" x 6 1/4"

Language

N/A

Type

Three-dimensional object

Identifier

090204

Coverage

Unknown

Item sets

Microscopes

Tags

19th century
Compound
Monocular
Microscope
Case
Accessories
Brass
mahogany
Unsigned
glass
Society of Arts