Accession No
4121
Brief Description
microtome, rocking, and knives, by Cambridge Instrument Company Ltd., English, 1936 (microtome), 1945 (knives)
Origin
England; Cambridge
Maker
Cambridge Instrument Company Ltd.
Class
laboratory apparatus; biology; microscopes
Earliest Date
1936
Latest Date
1945
Inscription Date
Material
metal (iron, brass, steel, 2 types of white metal); rope (string); wood (2 types)
Dimensions
length 350mm; breadth 170mm; height 160mm knife box length 235mm; breadth 75mm; height (with knives) 50mm
Special Collection
Cambridge Instrument Company Collection
Provenance
Donated by the Cambridge Instrument Company.
Inscription
‘CAMBRIDGE
INSTRUMENT CO LTD
C214022
LONDON & CAMBRIDGE’ (brass plaque on base)
Description Notes
Microtome, rocking, and knives; made by the Cambridge Instrument Company; circa 1936 (microtome), circa 1945 (knives).
Black-painted rocking microtome.
Cast iron base with splayed feet. Cast verticals with knurled brass screw clamps for knife. Cast verticals for pivoting support for rocking arm. Supporting arm rests on threaded steel shaft with knurled white metal screw at top; cog wheel at base moved by wooden handled white metal arm. Arm is attached to rocking arm by string via pulley wheel (modern replacement string). Two heavy-duty springs from the base to the rocking arm and the support.
Wooden tray for knives, contains two knives, one with top plate with serial number C436466 and marked 17˚ (for angle).
Condition fair (paint chipping, not in working order); complete.
References
Events
Description
A microtome is a laboratory instrument used to cut extremely thin slices of material, called sections. These are usually cut from specimens of human or animal tissue (embedded in a soft material like paraffin wax), and are produced for inspection under a microscope. The “rocking” type of microtome was designed by Charles Darwin’s son, Horace Darwin. Horace co-founded the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company with Albert George Dew-Smith in 1881, and the firm began manufacturing Horace’s microtome design from 1885. This design, with updates, continued to be produced well into the second half of the twentieth century. As a Cambridge Instruments sales catalogue boasted, “simplicity of operation makes it an ideal instrument for the use of students or for routine work and it has become the standard microtome for general use in laboratories all over the world.”
This particular model could cut sections between 0.002mm and 0.024mm thick.
14/03/2014
Created by: Joshua Nall on 14/03/2014
FM:44055
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