Cuff-type compound microscope, London, England, 1790-1810
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A compound microscope uses two or more sets of lenses. The Cuff-type microscope was invented by John Cuff (1708-1772). It was a very popular design, being easy to focus and, with its box-shaped stand, more stable than many other microscopes, which tended to have tripod stands. This one has a drawer to store additional lenses and specimen holders. The mirror underneath the tube is known as a Lieberkühn reflector and it helped to light the object being studied. This microscope was made by one of the Dolland family, well known optical instrument makers.
Object number:
A601261 Pt1
Related Themes and Topics
Glossary:
Glossary: compound microscope
Microscope with multiple optical elements (lenses/mirrors). It has two microscopes in series, the first serving as the ocular lens (close to the eye) and the second serving as the objective lens (close to the object to be viewed).