Accession No
4111
Brief Description
microtome, rocking, by Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company Ltd., English, circa 1895
Origin
England; Cambridge
Maker
Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company Ltd.
Class
laboratory apparatus; biology; microscopes
Earliest Date
1895
Latest Date
1895
Inscription Date
Material
metal (iron, brass, steel, white metal); rope (string); wood
Dimensions
length 360mm; breadth 250mm; height 193mm
Special Collection
Cambridge Instrument Company Collection
Provenance
Donated by the Cambridge Instrument Company.
Inscription
‘CAMBRIDGE SCIENTIFIC
INSTRUMENT COMPANY
Limited’ (brass plaque screwed onto base)
Description Notes
Microtome, rocking; made by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company; circa 1895.
Red-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 brass screw at top; cog wheel at base moved by wooden handled brass arm. Arm is attached to rocking arm by waxed string via pulley wheel. Two heavy-duty springs from the base to the rocking arm and the support.
Condition fair (paint flaking off base); 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:44279
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