Adams's universal compound microscope
Date1826-1830
Inventory Number1009
ClassificationMicroscope
Subject
Maker
Gilkerson & McAll
1826 - 1830
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensions9.5 x 24.5 x 31.5 cm (3 3/4 x 9 5/8 x 12 3/8 in.)
microscope / box: 44 cm (17 5/16 in.)
tripod / box: 22 x 23 cm (8 11/16 x 9 1/16 in.)
tripod: 27 cm (10 5/8 in.)
microscope / box: 44 cm (17 5/16 in.)
tripod / box: 22 x 23 cm (8 11/16 x 9 1/16 in.)
tripod: 27 cm (10 5/8 in.)
Material
Accessorieswheel with 6 objectives; substage condensing lens; substage mirror; Lieberkühn for objectives; Lieberkühn carrier; magnifier lens with Lieberkühn; tilting magnifier lens; tweezers; stage forceps; watch glass; ivory disk; 10 slides (ivory, wood, ebonite); mahogany case.
DescriptionThis brass microscope is based on the later version of "Adams's universal compound microscope," which had a body tube with a conical base. It is similar to what became known as "Jones's most improved" microscope, which has a body with a slightly different shape. Like other so-called universal microscopes, it can be set up as either a compound or simple microscope.
A tube with threaded ocular and intermediate lens is threaded into an arm with aquatic motion. A wheel assembly with 6 objectives screws into the arm from below. Alternatively, a magnifier with Lieberkuhn screws into the arm. The arm is mounted at the top of a square limb, which is held by a compass joint to a round pillar standing on a folding tripod base. The stage is focused by rack and pinion. A substage mirror and condensing lens slide on the limb.
The file contains an original instruction sheet that appears to apply to this microscope. It refers to a figure that is missing, unfortunately.
A tube with threaded ocular and intermediate lens is threaded into an arm with aquatic motion. A wheel assembly with 6 objectives screws into the arm from below. Alternatively, a magnifier with Lieberkuhn screws into the arm. The arm is mounted at the top of a square limb, which is held by a compass joint to a round pillar standing on a folding tripod base. The stage is focused by rack and pinion. A substage mirror and condensing lens slide on the limb.
The file contains an original instruction sheet that appears to apply to this microscope. It refers to a figure that is missing, unfortunately.
SignedGILKERSON & McALL / Tower Hill, London
ProvenanceDavid Wheatland purchased from Ernst Weil, London, sometime after 1947. Donated to CHSI March 10, 1958.
Robert Bancks
Date: 1805-1811
Accessories: 6 objectives 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8; two high power/ short focal length lenses in round brass boxes: A, B; 2 lenses in black rings in cylindrical boxes for aquatic use: 30, 40; 3 Lieberkühns with lenses; cone diaphragm; polarizer set; brass live box; 2 stage forceps; frog plate; 2 oculars; tweezers; brush; brass wet cell preparation slide; 10 ivory slides; ivory box with slide covers and rings; spring stage mount; watch glass and bracket; bull's eye on stand; case.
Object number: 1185
George Adams (I)
Date: circa 1770
Accessories: objective (8); objective (3) with Lieberkühns; eyepiece (2); eye shade; lens to make the stand a simple aquatic microscope; hand lens; insert (7) for stage; insect box; spring clamp (2); narrow ivory slider (11); narrow ebony slider (9); wide wooden slider (6); ivory box (2) for mica covers; specialized tweezer (4); ivory handled dissection tool (3); flexible arm for holding a magnifying lens; small articulated bull's eye to fit on stage; special four-position slider for quick mounting of small specimens; lens of ~45 mm diameter
Object number: 2002-1-0047
Benjamin Wood
Date: 1820
Accessories: 10 objectives, numbered 1-10 (caps on 1 and 2); 4 objectives with lieberkuhns (one lens missing); 2 oculars; 3 simple lenses in eye cups; diaphragm cone; live box; spring stage; three-wing stage; double-convex lens on rod; simple-lens carrier on an arm; ivory black/white disk; 1 ivory disk with cork; 3 flat glass disks of differing sizes; 1 large glass disk in threaded brass rim; 1 watch glass; 3 large glass, magnifying lenses, one tinted green; 2 small magnifying glasses; stage condensor; fish plate; 2 stage forceps; 1 stage 3-pronged gripper; tweezers; 3 ivory handled knives for preparations; 10 small and 3 medium ivory slides of transparent specimens; 3 ivory slides of opaque specimens; 3 boxwood slides of transparent specimens; 1 brass wet-cell slide with 4 apertures for preparations; 2 cylindrical ivory boxes with mica cover slips and snap rings; wrench; chamois; flat case with sockets for the above; key.
Object number: 1002
George Adams (II)
Date: 1789
Accessories: 3 magnifiers attached on arms; 1 Lieberkühn (lens missing); 1 high power lens; Insect box with 2 glass covers; stage forceps; 2 ivory slides; box.
Object number: 1001
George Lindsay
Date: 1742
Accessories: Hand magnifier; 5 slides with preparations; tweezers; stage forceps; # 1 lens with Lieberkühn; 2-7 lenses in slides; Lieberkühn; ivory talc box; fishskin case; original pamphlet.
Object number: 1019
Charles-Louis Chevalier
Date: circa 1840
Accessories: 2 regular objectives; a high power objective; a low power objective (a variable power dissecting lens) with an extension arm for this lens; 2 dissecting lenses; 1 objective with lieberkuhn; objective with polarizer; 2 regular eyepieces; 1 erecting eyepiece; 1 micrometer eyepiece; stage micrometer, stage bull's eye condenser on jointed arm; camera lucida; tweezers; 3 dissecting tools; pillar extension;
compressorium, 2 objective adaptive mounts (one with Chevalier threads, another with Oberhauser threads); 2 adaptors for Chevalier lenses to other microscopes (one adaptor having Society threads); case.
Object number: 1093
George Adams (I)
Date: 1766-1787
Accessories: 8 objectives; Lieberkühn; substage black cone; brass wet cell preparation slide; frog plate; live box; spring stage for slider; stage forceps; horizontal box.
Object number: 1310
Alexander Mackenzie
Date: circa 1820
Accessories: 2 stage forceps; tweezers; live box; substage mirror; convertible objective of three lenses; 3 ivory slides; magnifier lens; cardboard box for covers; instruction sheet; flat case.
Object number: 1261
Harmanus van Deyl
Date: 1807
Accessories: 2 objectives; 2 eye lenses for a fixed field lens; 1 Lieberkühn; frogplate; bull's eye; stage forceps; spring stage; live box; hand lens; 2 tweezers; 2 boxes with 59 specimen slides; glass disk; black disk; "fish" tube with wire; ivory box of mica cover slips; 5 glass slides; 3 lenses; 2 keys.
Object number: 2002-1-0075a
Claude-Siméon Passemant
Date: 1749-1769
Accessories: ocular; objectives (7); bull's eye condenser; Lieberkühn for stage mounting; cone diaphragm; spring frame for slides; frog plate; stage forceps; large and small black and white disks (2); round micrometer slide with fine wire screen; low-power lens; black aperture disk; brass slider for 4 specimens; ivory slides--rectangular (6); ivory slides--circular (2); brass slide with aperture to hold circular ivory slides; boxes (2) of round ivory slides (40 in total).
Object number: 1182
the Reverend John Prince
Date: ca. 1796
Accessories: One "substage" mirror; 1 condensing lens in blackened mount; 2 magnifiers or condensers in brass mounts; 1 cone diaphragm; 3 sliders; 7 objectives; flat case.
Object number: 0044b
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
Date: 1880-1889
Accessories: magnifier lens; concave substage mirror
Object number: 2002-1-0052