Microscope
date: label: date made
content: 1906
name: label: maker
content: Spencer Lens Company
notes: label: Description
content: Spencer Model 30 compound monocular microscope with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece, large square stage covered with vulcanized rubber, inclination joint, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, horseshoe base, and wooden box with three additional objectives. An inscription on the base reads “SPENCER LENS CO. / BUFFALO, N.Y. / 8993.” The serial number indicates a date of 1906. Another inscription reads “PAT. DEC. 11 1900 / AUG. 28. 1906.”
label: Description
content: The firm boasted in 1904 that their No. 30 “is adapted to all ordinary laboratory requirements and is constructed with especial reference to solidity and steadiness, making it peculiarly desirable for the most delicate manipulations.” The form was still on the market in 1919, and “largely used by physicians and private laboratories.”
label: Description
content: This example was owned and used by Frederick Allen (1879-1964), a physician who developed dietary treatments for people with diabetes. Allen received an AMA medal for this work in 1916, and the Banting Medal in 1949.
label: Description
content: Ref: Spencer Lens Co., <i>Microtomes, Bacteriological Apparatus and Laboratory Supplies</i> (Buffalo, N.Y., 1904), pp. 32-33.
label: Description
content: Spencer Lens Co., <i>Catalog of Spencer Microscopes, Microtomes and Accessories</i> (Buffalo, 1919), pp. 28-29.
label: Description
content: Herman Zirngibl, “Microscope,” U.S. Patent 663,649 (Dec. 11, 1900), assigned to Spencer Lens Co.
label: Description
content: Harry N. Ott, “Microscope,” U.S. Patent 829,422 (Aug. 28, 1906), assigned to Spencer Lens Co.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, Buffalo
topic: label: Subject
content: Science & Scientific Instruments
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Mrs. Frederick Allen
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.260034.01.2
label: catalog number
content: M-11425
label: accession number
content: 260034
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Microscope
label: Other Terms
content: Microscope; Monocular; Compound
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: black (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 28 cm x 12 cm x 15.4 cm; 11 in x 4 3/4 in x 6 1/16 in
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 32.4 cm x 21.9 cm x 17.4 cm; 12 3/4 in x 8 5/8 in x 6 7/8 in