Nachet-type drum compound microscope
Date: 1856-1862
Inventory Number: 1106a
Classification: Microscope
Dimensions:microscope at minimum height: 32.5 x 11.4 x 13.1 cm (12 13/16 x 4 1/2 x 5 3/16 in.)
case: 13.3 × 34.2 × 21.5 cm (5 1/4 × 13 7/16 × 8 7/16 in.)
Accessories: case; key; oculars (4): 0, 1, 2, 3; objectives in box (1106b); parts box with accessories (1106c); condenser on stand (1106d); Nachet prism (1106e)
DescriptionThis elegant drum microscope (1106a) has a lead-weighted base surrounded by brass. The base is drum-shaped. It holds the adjustable plane-concave mirror. It also has a substage slide with diaphragm stops and a lever to raise and lower the stops in order to adjust the height below the stage.
The stage has a black glass insert. There are two stage clips (one is missing). The stage rotates on a bronze ring bearing and carries with it the upper part of the microscope.
Coarse focus is by sliding the tube. Fine focus is by a vertical screw in the upright column that carries the tube. The fine focus knob is below the column.
The microscope comes in its original fitted mahogany box padded with red-brown velvet. The box has a lock and key. A brass handle is on the side.
Accessories in the box include 4 eyepieces; a little fitted box (1106b) with 6 objectives and 2 cup diaphragms; a lift out accessory tray (1106c) with 3 cup diaphragms, a diffuser, two pill boxes of cover slips, and miscellany; a large condensing lens on an articulated stand (1106d); and a Nachet prism (1106e) for inclined viewing.
Signedon arm : NACHET / Opticien / à Paris / 16 rue Serpente
Inscribedon label stuck to underside of base: 106 [1106] / Dr. Benj. Shurtleff Shaw / M.D. (Harv.) 1850 / Resident Physician, M.G.H.
on label stuck to underside of objective box: [1]106 / Dr. Benj. Shurtleff / SHAW's / Nachet
Historical AttributesThis elegant and well-equipped drum microscope belonged to Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff Shaw, the first Resident Physician of Massachusetts General Hospital.
According to a note in the file, Dr. Shaw purchased it in Paris "circa 1870," but it seems likely that it was purchased earlier when he was in Paris studying anatomy at the same time as Dr. R. M. Hodges in the 1850s.
The Ernst-Lewis Collection had two more Nachet drum microscopes that were identical to this instrument. One belonged to Jeffries Wyman, Hersey Professor of Anatomy at Harvard College and curator of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. The other belonged to Dr. R. M. Hodges, a classmate of Dr. Shaw, a surgeon, and the Demonstrator of Anatomy at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Lewis discarded these after transferring a few accessories to the instrument owned by Dr. Shaw. The items transferred include two objectives and two diaphragms, a parts box, and possibly some eyepieces.
Dr. Lewis noted that Dr. Shaw's microscope was "presented by Henry S. Shaw 1928." Dr. Ernst noted that Alpheus Hyatt, the renowned zoologist, presented Dr. Wyman's instrument in June 1900.
Provenancemicroscope and box: Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff Shaw, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, purchased in Paris before 1893; Henry S. Shaw, before 1928; gift to Ernst-Lewis Collection of Microscopes (inv. no. 106), Harvard Medical School, 1928.
parts box and components: Professor Jeffries Wyman, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University; Alpheus Hyatt; gift to Ernst-Lewis Collection of Microscopes (inv. no. 76), Harvard Medical School, June 1900
components: Dr. Richard M. Hodges, Harvard Medical School; Ernst-Lewis Collection of Microscopes (inv. no. 107), Harvard Medical School.