Posted in June 2016
Professor Beijerinck’s samples have left the building…
The day has arrived. The packing is finished, the furniture must be dismantled and then it’s time to move to our new rooms. It’s hard to understand how 3 smallish rooms can require so many boxes to empty them!
Most of the collection is being professionally moved, of course, but Prof Beijerinck’s gall and root nodule samples (preserved in alcohol) are too fragile for the vibration in a lorry and so a team of volunteers carried them around the corner to our new abode.
We plan to reopen in the Autumn, look for us at the Delft Science Centre on Mijnbouwstraat.
What was this microscope used for?
Discovering rare or unusual microscopes has become almost routine since we began packing the collection, but this one has me (and everyone else who has visited) baffled.
It seems to be a “jug handled” Carl Zeiss Jena microscope from the late 19th/early 20th century. However, it is mounted on its back rather than on a foot (1). Moreover, in place of the usual single condenser, there’s what seems to be 2 lenses of different strengths and 2 condensers (2), hinged so that any of them can be used to light the preparation (3). There’s an additional lens which can swing over the usual ocular (4).
Has anyone any idea what it was used for?
-
- 1: side view
-
- 2: "foot"end
-
- 3: "condensers"
-
- 4: ocular end
Recent Comments