Accession No
1388
Brief Description
microtome, rocking, by Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company Ltd., English, circa 1900
Origin
England; Cambridge
Maker
Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company Ltd.
Class
laboratory apparatus; biology; microscopes
Earliest Date
1900
Latest Date
1900
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass); rope
Dimensions
length 415mm; breadth 200mm; height 165mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Inscription
‘SCIENTIFIC INST. CO. LTD.
CAMBRIDGE
NO706
PATENT NO8258’ (cast on base)
Description Notes
Microtome, rocking; made by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company; circa 1900.
1900 model. Cast base; original red finish now covered by black paint; cast uprights for knife (missing) with brass knurled screws; covered casting to the support for the arm which rests on this cast upright and is held in position by the spring; similar arrangement for the pivotting arm; (block missing); clamp for the block; knurled ring at the other end with aperture for pulley rope; drive identical arrangement to earlier models, but with a scale (ungraduated) below the handle.
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:44088
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