Accession No
0703
Brief Description
solar microscope; 2/2 18th century
Origin
Maker
Class
microscopes
Earliest Date
1750
Latest Date
1800
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass, steel); wood (lignum vitae)
Dimensions
height 262mm; side of base 111mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased from T.H. Court on 02/03/1933.
Inscription
Description Notes
Brass threaded condenser tube being on a 3 part brass stage; steel spring; 1 objective; screw barrel screws to brass tube and drawer tube which screws to lignum vitae scioptic ball; condenser lens in end of tube; lens in scioptic ball; 2 screw holes for attachment to shutter.
References
Events
Description
A solar microscope acts like a magic lantern, projecting a magnified image onto a screen where many could see it simultaneously. As such, they were commonly used for teaching.
It is worked in a dark room. The sun's rays fall on a plane mirror placed outside the room, and are reflected toward a condensing lens and then on to to a second lens by which they are concentrated at its focus. The object to be magnified is at this point, and its image is projected onto a screen beyond it.
FM:42820
Images (Click to view full size):
