hand-held simple microscope
Date: 1868
Inventory Number: 1211
Classification: Microscope
Dimensions:6.8 × 9 × 5.7 cm (2 11/16 × 3 9/16 × 2 1/4 in.)
Accessories: Slide for 4 objects
DescriptionThis brass simple microscope is made with exquisitely fine threads and precision.
The tube is made of red brass and has a slot in which a brass slide may be inserted. The top of the tube is threaded to receive the eyepiece. Inside the tube there is a spring stage. The bottom of the tube has interior threads to receive a condensing lens. There are also exterior threads that mate with a heavy brass ring that serves as the microscope's base, when the user wishes to set it down. It also protects the condenser from scratches.
The eyepiece is made of three parts. The bottom has prongs for a bayonet mount (which is not used here). Exterior threads are used for mounting it on the microscope tube. A lens in a collar is screwed to the bottom. A cover with a hole slides over the lens. The cover has a whiter brass collar on its sides.
The condenser is fitted into a sleeve that is inserted like a drawtube into the microscope body. The outside of the sleeve is scratched with initials, symbols, and a date: "C L S - [symbols] - 1868." The symbols look like that for Pisces with an arch overhead, followed by that for Capricorn.
The brass slide has 4 cells. Two have large apertures and two smaller ones. Thus the slide serves as a diaphragm. Only one cell still has its glass.