The basic English drum microscope design motif is a descendent of Benjamin Martin's Pocket Reflecting Microscope, discussed elsewhere in the museum. An original version of the microscope was photographed and described by Gerard Turner in his excellent volume Collecting Microscopes.

This microscope is made of lignum vitae, pasteboard, rayskin, and brass. Martin autographed the microscope prominently on the body tube between the wooden nosepiece and eye cup, as illustrated above. The body tube slides up and down to focus the specimen through a single brass objective mounted in the nosepiece. A stage in the lower portion of the drum accommodates the specimen, which is illuminated through the base of the microscope.

BACK TO EIGHTEENTH CENTURY MICROSCOPES

Questions or comments? Send us an email.

© 1998-2022 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.

This website is maintained by our
Graphics & Web Programming Team
in collaboration with Optical Microscopy at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Last modification: Friday, Nov 13, 2015 at 01:19 PM

Access Count Since February 22, 2000: 46801

For more information on microscope manufacturers,
use the buttons below to navigate to their websites: