drum compound microscope
Date: circa 1795
Inventory Number: 1303
Classification: Microscope
Dimensions:microscope: 24.3 × 6 × 6 cm (9 9/16 × 2 3/8 × 2 3/8 in.)
case: 7.8 x 26.5 x 13 cm (3 1/16 x 10 7/16 x 5 1/8 in.)
box: 8.9 × 28.3 × 14.9 cm (3 1/2 × 11 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.)
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.
DescriptionThis brass drum microscope is of the English pattern.
The elongated brass drum acts as a stand and has apertures to gain access to the objective, stage, and substage mirror. There are pairs of rectangular and circular slots above the stage for the insertion of the slides or a glass vial (also known as the fish tube). Focusing is by means of the draw tube.
The mahogany case is fitted and has an accessory drawer inside, under the rack of optics. The case is lined with padded brown velvet inside the lid, and is cushioned in places with claret velvet.
Accessories include 6 objectives marked with numbers 1-6; and one ocular. There is a round stage condenser; stage forceps of blued steel and an ivory counterweight; a round live box; a round shallow live trough (watch glass); a black/white stage plate; a glass fish tube; a brass tweezers; a steel dissecting needle with a wood handle; a bull's eye lens that can be stage-mounted; round brass box; and a quill. There are 6 prepared wooden slides (3 of light wood, 3 of dark); 3 narrow glass slides; and 3 glass slides.
Signedunsigned
Historical AttributesBelieved by Cabot family to have come "from an aunt by courtesy--Miss Mary Rodman who came from New Bedford and was a better than average botanist."
ProvenanceMary Rodman, New Bedford, MA; Chilton R. Cabot, Cambridge, MA, pre-1969; gift to CHSI, 1969.
Related WorksReginald S. Clay and Thomas H. Court, The History of the Microscope (London: Charles Griffin and Company, Limited, 1932), 155-160.
Gerard L'Estrange Turner, The Great Age of the Microscope: The Collection of the Royal Microscopical Society (Bristol and New York: Adam Hilger, 1989), 86-91.