combination telescope and microscope
Datecirca 1776
Inventory Number1213
ClassificationMicroscope
Subject
Maker
Benjamin Martin
1704 - 1782
Dimensions20 x 10 x 4.2 cm (7 7/8 x 3 15/16 x 1 5/8 in.)
case: 16 x 6.5 x 8.5 cm (6 5/16 x 2 9/16 x 3 3/8 in.)
case: 16 x 6.5 x 8.5 cm (6 5/16 x 2 9/16 x 3 3/8 in.)
Material
Accessories3 Objectives: 2, 4, 5; Lieberkühn; 4 ivory sliders; springclip/holder; case with rounded top.
DescriptionThis is a combination of a drum microscope that can be flipped over and used as a simple microscope once one has added various fittings. Both microscopes take advantage of the coarse focus by means of the sliding tube and the fine focus by means of the rackwork. It can also be used as a telescope.
The brass drum carries at one end a compound body that is moved by rack and pinion. The center of the drum has oval slots on opposite sides to hold the stage and its slides and to permit light to fall on opaque specimens. A lower section of the drum has a window that lets light into the mirror, which is held inside the drum and is used for transparent specimens. The screw cap at this end is also a cover to store the lieberkuhn.
To convert this drum microscope into a simple microscope, the user flips the instrument over and stands it on its head. A lieberkuhn with a lens may then be slid into slots by the drum's stage. A clip stage, which will hold specimens, gets mounted where the drum-microscope objective would be fitted. There is also a slot to hold the stage forceps. A small brass tube holding slides can be attached to a screw on the drum to serve as a handle.
To convert the instrument to a terrestrial telescope, the mirror and end of the drum forming the box for the lieberkuhn are both removed. A lens is screwed into the end of the drum to act as an objective for the telescope. The low power microscope acts as the erecting eyepiece.
The brass drum carries at one end a compound body that is moved by rack and pinion. The center of the drum has oval slots on opposite sides to hold the stage and its slides and to permit light to fall on opaque specimens. A lower section of the drum has a window that lets light into the mirror, which is held inside the drum and is used for transparent specimens. The screw cap at this end is also a cover to store the lieberkuhn.
To convert this drum microscope into a simple microscope, the user flips the instrument over and stands it on its head. A lieberkuhn with a lens may then be slid into slots by the drum's stage. A clip stage, which will hold specimens, gets mounted where the drum-microscope objective would be fitted. There is also a slot to hold the stage forceps. A small brass tube holding slides can be attached to a screw on the drum to serve as a handle.
To convert the instrument to a terrestrial telescope, the mirror and end of the drum forming the box for the lieberkuhn are both removed. A lens is screwed into the end of the drum to act as an objective for the telescope. The low power microscope acts as the erecting eyepiece.
Signedunsigned
FunctionThis might be called a "seaside microscope and telescope" insofar as it is a combination instrument that is easily carried and can be used to observe opaque and transparent specimens at close range and ships at long range. It is one of Benjamin Martin's inventions.
ProvenanceDavid Wheatland purchased from Alain Brieux, Paris, September 4, 1963 (lot 12/13). Donated to CHSI November 20, 1963.
Historical AttributesBenjamin Martin invented and made this combination microscope and telescope. He describes it in a tract which can be dated to 1776 and is entitled, "The Description of a New Construction and Application of a Portable Apparatus of Microscopic Instruments."
Charles-Louis Chevalier
Date: circa 1833
Accessories: 1 convertible objective, unmarked; 2 oculars; bull's eye condenser on jointed arm; 4 prepared slides, 3 glass slides; wrapped paper with pityriasis versicolor; specimen list on a card; flat case in form of sliding drawer; key.
Object number: 1071a
Ernst Leitz (company)
Date: circa 1937
Accessories: standard eyepieces (3): 8X P, Periplan. OK 10X, and Periplan. Ok. 25X; wide eyepieces (3): 1, 1, 8X, 10X; objectives (4) in fitted case: 1b 4.3X, 3 10X, P7 62X, P 1/12 oel; waveplates (2); condenser with polarizer; mechanical stage; loupe 6x; box of cover glasses; standing case; key; objective adaptors (4); and watch keys (2)
Object number: 1999-1-0020a
Camille Sébastien Nachet
Date: 1845-1850
Accessories: oculars (2): unmarked; objectives (7) : ?, 1(?), 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 in fitted wood box (1081b); mechanical stage (1081c); adjustable bull's eye; concave substage mirror; diaphragm wheel; specimen tray; black-white disk; case.
Object number: 1081a
English
Date: circa 1830
Accessories: 1 ocular; objectives (3): 1, 2, and 3; a live box; dissecting needle; stage forceps; a glass stage disk; a black and white disk; a mica disk; two glass slides; list of specimens; case.
Object number: 1053
Edward Marmaduke Clarke
Date: 1838-1840
Accessories: 5 objectives for simple microscope; 2 objectives for compound microscope (1 in can; 1 with lieberkuhn); cup diaphragm with lieberkuhn in brass box; brass box of cover slips; stage forceps; tweezers; 2 live boxes; frog plate; bull's eye; fish tube wire; wrench; chamois; 2 unmounted lenses; 40 prepared slides; standing case; 2 keys.
Object number: 1018
English
Date: circa 1795
Accessories: 1 ocular; 6 objectives: 1 to 6; stage condenser; stage forceps; live box; live well (watch glass); black/white stage plate; fish tube; 6 prepared wooden slides; tweezers; dissecting needle; a quill; bull's eye lens on stand; round brass box; 3 narrow glass slides; 3 glass slides; flat mahogany case.
Object number: 1303
Matthew Loft
Date: 1730-1747
Accessories: ocular (1); objectives (6); fish plate; substage cone diaphragm; round spring slide holder; stage forceps; bull's eye condenser; wet specimen glass cup; rotating slide speciment holder with black and white disks; small black and white disks as bead on cord; brass spring; spare collar from an ocular; pyramidal box.
Object number: 1242
Ernst Leitz (company)
Date: circa 1919
Accessories: oculars (2): 3, 8x; accessory box; Leitz objectives (5); wrenches (2); ground glass; N.A. 1.45 condensor cap; Abbe condensor; rotary stage; case
Object number: 1345
Edmund Culpeper
Date: circa 1730
Accessories: 6 objectives for screw-barrel microscope; 3 objectives for compound body; 1 lieberkuhn; 1 opaque attachment; brass box; 2 ivory slides, 1 brass wet-cell slide; tweezer; ivory handle; glass specimen fish tube; storage box; instruction booklet by Culpeper (stored in instrument file).
Object number: 1173
Carl Zeiss Jena
Date: circa 1928
Accessories: oculars(2): a pair of K 15x Mobimi; objectives (3): apochromats 20 n.a. 0.65 and 70 n.a. 1.25, and achromat 8 n.a. 0.20; mechanical stage; condenser with iris diaphgragm; locking screw with washer and screwdriver; standing case, key.
Object number: 1369
Ernst Leitz (company)
Date: circa 1948
Accessories: objectives (2): P3b A 0.40 16,5:1 C and P6L A 0.65 45:1; ocular "0"; polarizing condenser; analyzer; box with 14 older petrographic slides [1346b]; standing case
Object number: 1346a