Accession No

1525

Brief Description

achromatic compound microscope, dissecting, former property of Professor John Stevens Henslow, by Smith and Beck, English, 1851

Origin

England; London; 6 Coleman Street

Maker

Smith and Beck

Class

microscopes

Earliest Date

1851

Latest Date

1851

Inscription Date

Material

metal (oxidised brass, brass); glass; wood

Dimensions

box length 420mm; height 232mm; breadth 142mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased by Professor John Stevens Henslow from Smith & Beck, 18/07/1851. One of two made by Smith & Beck.

Inscription

‘Smith & Beck
6 Coleman St. London
587’

Description Notes

Achromatic compound microscope, dissecting; by Smith & Beck; English, 1851. Former property of Prof. John Stevens Henslow.

Oxidised brass claw foot; 2 uprights; pivoting limb with large plain rectangular stage; rotating diaphragm; tubular tail piece with swinging plano-concave mirror; arched limb with racked vertical to brass body; pair of knurled coarse focus screws; racked draw tube with pair of focussing screws; 2 push fit eye pieces with field lenses; one screw fit objective in brass case ‘2/3 Smith & Beck 6 Coleman St. London’; screw down collar on objective for use when employing erecting lens. [spece eyepiece]; tweezers; glass slide. Fitted wooden box. Double rack dissecting microscopes.
Longhand label in lid with directions for use.

References

Boris Jardine; 'The Henslows: two generations of Cambridge botanists'; Explore Whipple Collections online article; Whipple Museum of the History of Science; University of Cambridge; 2007: https://www.whipplemuseum.cam.ac.uk/explore-whipple-collections/microscopes/henslows-two-generations-cambridge-botanists

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