Cary-type compound microscope
Datecirca 1830
Inventory Number1163
ClassificationMicroscope
Subject
Maker
English
Owner
Morgan Rodman Drinker
?
Owner
Sandwith Drinker
1808 - 1857
Owner
Catherine A. Janvier
1841 - 1922
Owner
Cecil K. Drinker
1887 - 1956
Collector
Ernst-Lewis Collection of Microscopes
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Place of Use
Dimensionsmicroscope: 29.3 × 16.3 × 11.7 cm (11 9/16 × 6 7/16 × 4 5/8 in.)
case: 5.3 × 16.3 × 11.7 cm (2 1/16 × 6 7/16 × 4 5/8 in.)
box: 12.7 × 18.4 × 14.3 cm (5 × 7 1/4 × 5 5/8 in.)
case: 5.3 × 16.3 × 11.7 cm (2 1/16 × 6 7/16 × 4 5/8 in.)
box: 12.7 × 18.4 × 14.3 cm (5 × 7 1/4 × 5 5/8 in.)
Material
Accessories4 objectives; 1 ocular; live box; 2 stage forceps; tweezers; 3 ivory slides; black and white ivory disk; mineral specimens; insect specimens; paper list of specimens; case; key.
DescriptionBrass compound microscope with fittings stored in a pocket-sized wooden box. A brass pillar screws into the lid of the box and holds a mirror, the stage, and the optical assembly. This is a cylindrical tube with tapering nose. Focusing is by rack and pinion. The mirror is concave.
Under the lift-out tray in the fitted box, there are samples of pyrite and other minerals; a pink sheet of paper on which is delicately written a "List of Objects" found on the slides; and a folded up piece of paper labeled "Specimens of (Murdered) Animated Nature." The latter holds squished bugs and a spider. Another slip of paper reads, "Ore from Formosa Coal."
According to Dr. Lewis, there was a worn instruction sheet under the tray, entitled, "A description of the improved compound and single pocket microscope." It is no longer present.
A small brass plate on the lid of the box is inscribed with the initials W. B. D. in Old English style.
Under the lift-out tray in the fitted box, there are samples of pyrite and other minerals; a pink sheet of paper on which is delicately written a "List of Objects" found on the slides; and a folded up piece of paper labeled "Specimens of (Murdered) Animated Nature." The latter holds squished bugs and a spider. Another slip of paper reads, "Ore from Formosa Coal."
According to Dr. Lewis, there was a worn instruction sheet under the tray, entitled, "A description of the improved compound and single pocket microscope." It is no longer present.
A small brass plate on the lid of the box is inscribed with the initials W. B. D. in Old English style.
Signedunsigned
Inscribedon lid of box: W. B. D.
Curatorial Remarkssimilar to inv. 1003, 1004, 1005.
ProvenancePossibly Morgan Rodman Drinker; passed to her cousin, Captain Sandwith Drinker (1808-1857), merchant of Macau, China, before 1857; his daughter, Catharine A. Janvier (nee Drinker) (1841-1922), 1857-1922; her nephew, Dr. C. K. Drinker, Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Physiology, 1922-1942; gift to Dr. Frederic T. Lewis, Department of Anatomy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 2 March 1942; Ernst-Lewis Collection of Microscopes (inv. no. 163), Harvard Medical School.
Historical AttributesThis pocket microscope was owned by Captain Sandwith Drinker (1808-1857), a merchant of Macau, China. It was later owned by his daughter, Catharine A. Janvier (nee Drinker) (1841-1922). Upon her death, she passed it on to her nephew, Dr. C. K. Drinker, Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Physiology. Dr. Drinker gave it to Dr. Lewis on 2 March 1942.
Dr. Drinker believed that the microscope belonged at one time to Morgan Rodman Drinker, a cousin of Captain Sandwith Drinker. It is possible that the initials on the box (W. B. D.) were poorly written in China by a non-English reader who intended to copy M. R. D.
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
Edward Bryan
Date: 1866-1879
Accessories: objectives in canisters (3): 1/4, 1, 2 inch; ocular; live box; box of cover slips; prepared slides (5 small, 12 large); ivory slide; 5 powdered specimens in blue paper; bull's eye condenser; stage forceps; standing case with parts drawer.
Object number: 1085
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
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
English
Date: circa 1830
Accessories: 2 objectives; 1 ocular; live box with glass; ivory black / white disk; stage forceps; dissecting needle; 3 ivory slides; 2 glass slides; specimen list; crystal specimen; mica cover slips; box.
Object number: 1004
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
François-Antoine Jecker
Date: circa 1801
Accessories: 1 Objective: 1, with male thread 11mm dia. x 0.6 mm; fixed ocular; tweezers; glass slide; ivory slide with 5 positions containing 5 specimens; watch glass; mahogany flat case.
Object number: 1216
Claude Paris
Date: 1745-1750
Accessories: 4 objectives in wooden mounts; 2 pin wrenches; stage forceps; 4 wood slides with two specimens each.
Object number: 1183
R & M Manufacturing Company
Date: circa 1950
Accessories: Fluorescent specimens
Object number: 1991-5-0006
English
Date: circa 1830
Accessories: 4 objectives; 1 ocular; live box with glass; ivory black / white disk; stage forceps; dissecting needle; brass tweezers; watch glass; 3 ivory slides; glass slide; specimen list; box with key.
Object number: 1003
English
Date: circa 1830
Accessories: 4 objectives; 1 objective fixed to compound body tube; 1 ocular; live box with glass; ivory black / white disk; stage forceps; brush; 3 ivory slides; 1 glass slide; 1 dissecting needle; specimen list; box.
Object number: 1005
William Cary
Date: circa 1820
Accessories: objectives (4): 1 to 4; attached ocular; objective with Lieberkühn; 4 ivory slides; 2 stage forceps; scalpel, dissecting needle, brush; 3 glass slides; mirror; bull's eye condenser; insect box; black/white disc; round brass stage with glass window ; flat wooden case; booklet.
Object number: 1162