Vintage Visits: The First Patented Microscope, Part 1

George Lindsay received the first microscope patent on February 17, 1743, for a simple microscope he invented in 1728. Contained in a small wooden box like the one pictured below, the microscope was often referred to as the “snuffbox” microscope. Its compact design was innovative and so was Lindsay’s use of a magnification slider. The user could easily switch magnifications by pushing a slider containing a series of lenses instead of removing and replacing objectives as was the common practice of the time.

The Lindsay simple microscope housed at The McCrone Group is part of the Naturalist’s Collection of Simple Microscopes and Magnifiers, a subset of the Brooks Collection of Antique Microscopes. The Naturalists Collection is one of the largest groupings of simple microscopes in the world—numbering over 160 entries. While taking a closer look at our Lindsay simple microscope, we call into question one of the microscope’s key components and discuss if it is original or a replica. But first, what is a simple microscope?

A Speck of Glass

A simple microscope consists of a single lens and is usually small in size, often fitting in the palm of your hand. Common materials of construction include a single glass lens mounted in a wide variety of materials—brass, silver, wood, ivory, etc. The simple microscope is unfamiliar to most people, although it is responsible for the first microscopical discoveries in science. The early simple microscopes were superior to their multi-lens counterpart, the compound microscope, because the single lens produced far fewer optical artifacts, otherwise known as a poor image.

In his book “Single Lens: The Story of the Simple Microscope”, Brian J. Ford describes the importance of the simple microscope in these terms:

“Indeed, with the tiny brass microscope I am holding at this moment, you can see cells, nuclei, bacteria…the whole microbe world can be glimpsed with nothing more complicated than a speck of glass in a sliver of metal…”

Ford points out Leeuwenhoek’s simple microscope came into existence fifty years after the invention of the first microscopes, but his elegant design and especially the lenses he used were superior to its more complex predecessors.

It is no surprise to find George Lindsay turning to the simplicity of Leeuwenhoek’s design when setting out to create his simple microscope. We find some evidence of this in the book “Origin and Development of the Microscope”, published by the Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) in 1928.

“Origins and Development of the Microscope” is composed of two parts. Part I is a book of mostly historical microscopical “optical ideas”, while Part II is a catalogue of the RMS’s scientific instrument and accessories holdings. The Lindsay simple microscope held in the RMS collection is described below:

“This instrument is of the simple type and an elaboration of that developed by van Leeuwenhoek; it…is one of the neatest examples of thorough craftsmanship…and has many outstanding features of interest…”

The “thorough craftsmanship” referred to by the editors can be attributed largely to Lindsay’s watchmaking skills. Lindsay was first and foremost a London watch and clockmaker to the Prince of Wales. This shines through when examining the precision-made tiny lenses and screws used to create his magnification sliders and his overall thoughtful economy of space used to construct his microscope.

The image above is also from “Origin and Development of the Microscope”, made from a woodblock print, and illustrates the fully assembled Lindsay simple microscope and accompanying accessories in the RMS’s collection.

In the final paragraph from “Origin and Development of the Microscope” of the Lindsay simple microscope description, the editors tell us where to find more information regarding the microscope’s patent:

“A very full and interesting account of the Lindsay patent and also of its use as a solar microscope, will be found in an article by W.H. Brown…entitled Patents connected with the Microscope: 1666-1800: (Journal R.M.S., 1895, pp.257-273).”

As it turns out, W. H. Brown’s article not only contains some of the original patent language awarded to Lindsay, but also a wonderful labeled parts diagram of the Lindsay simple microscope.

Something Entirely New and Different

In the June 1895 RMS Journal, Society members W. H. Brown and T. D. Aldous present an inventory of the Society’s holdings. Brown writes that he and Aldous also directed their attention to the patent of Lindsay’s simple microscope as well as other early microscopical patents. According to Brown, this was the first time anyone had closely examined Lindsay’s simple microscope and its patent in greater detail.

Ironically, the actual patent is not republished in Brown’s RMS article. Above is a republished version of the patent that appears in the book “Title of Patents of Invention, Chronologically Arranged” by Bennet Woodcroft, 1854, p.110.

Aside from the language in the patent, Brown provides quotes from a scarce pamphlet published by Lindsay, titled “An Explanation of the Mechanism and Uses of a general portable Microscope”. This is a rare document held by the British Museum. Brown weaves together language from the patent, passages from Lindsay’s pamphlet, and a parts diagram of the Lindsay simple microscope from a German publication. Brown adds letters to the parts diagram pictured below to make it easier for the reader to follow along with his description of the microscope.

The nice thing about having a detailed manufacturer’s parts diagram of the Lindsay simple microscope, as a collector, you know what parts were originally included with the microscope, and in our case, which non-Lindsay components were added later.

The parts list created below is from Brown’s description, and includes missing items from our Lindsay simple microscope, which are highlighted in yellow.

1. Part A – Head of the Instrument
2. Part B – Specimen Plate
3. Part C – Lever
4. Part D – Handle
5. Part E – Plane Speculum (Mirror)
6. Part F – Sliding Bar
7. Parts G, G – Magnification Sliders (2)
8. Part I – Aperture
9. Parts K – Microscope Stand (3 Pieces)
10. Part N – Jointed Bar
11. Part O – Needle at One End Tongs at Other End
12. Part P – Brass Case, Holds Six Sliders for Objects and One Ebony Slider (Missing)
13. Part Q – Pair of Plyers (Missing)
14. Part R – Box of Talks (Talc Discs), Ising-Glass, and Rings (Missing)
15. Part S – Fish/Frog Plate
16. Part T – Silver Mirror with Aperture
17. Part V – Silver Mirror with Lens
18. Wood box – The wood box is present but the green velvet lining and black fishskin outside covering are missing

As you can see from the parts list above, the Lindsay simple microscope in the Brooks Collection is a nearly complete system. The only items missing are the pair of plyers (forceps), the box of talcs, the ebony slider and the original velvet lining and outer fishskin covering on the microscope’s wooden box.

However, one of the parts pictured above in our Lindsay simple microscope did not seem quite right. The magnification slider indicated by the yellow arrow is not a genuine Lindsay accessory.

Using a Lindsay Magnification Slider

When Lindsay designed his simple microscope, he made two Lieberkühns; one with a lens and the other without. A Lieberkühn is a dish-like reflector commonly used to view opaque specimens.

The Lieberkühn with a lens provides the lowest magnification for the Lindsay simple microscope. The Lieberkühn without a lens is for use with the two magnification sliders; one slider is for low magnification work and the other for higher magnifications.

The two magnification sliders are easily differentiated from one another based on their numbered markings, 2-4 and 5-7, stamped just above the line of lenses below the markings (see G, G in Brown’s diagram above). These numbered markings let the user know what lens is in place before the specimen.

Below is the low magnification slider from our Lindsay simple microscope. This slider was purchased from a collector separately and later added to our Lindsay microscope’s accessories.

The proper focus for each lens is set by moving a lever (C in Brown’s diagram) on the side of the microscope. As the specimen is moved, the user can reference a focal length indicator “claw” (b on Brown’s diagram) which has numbered makings stamped 1-7 on a silver plate. By matching the magnification slider number with the corresponding focal length number, the sample is brought into best focus.

A Replica that Falls Short

The magnification slider that came with our Lindsay simple microscope, pictured below at the bottom, attempts to replicate a Lindsay magnification slider, but there are several things wrong with the design, which call into question the authenticity of the piece.

The design of the replica magnification slider sold with our Lindsay microscope falls short in so many ways to the original, but let’s start with the seller’s eBay description:

“Also, there are no tweezers in this set, however, the original pointer and extra lenses are included here. The objective holder has all of the lenses, whereas many times these are missing…”

The seller references a single holder for all the lenses. As we now know, Lindsay provided two magnification sliders for each microscope and never offered a single magnification slider housing all six lenses. The replica also lacks the lens markings to match with the focal length indicator.

Overall, everything on the replica magnification slider is larger—the diameter of the lenses, the screws holding the two brass plates, and the openings made to accept each of the lenses, which are also not centered along the length of the slider. When the replica magnification slider is used with a specimen on our Lindsay microscope, there are mostly no noticeable changes in magnification when the other lenses are engaged. In many ways, the replica magnification slider resembles a piece of jewelry rather than something made with the accuracy of a watchmaker such as Lindsay.

In setting out to report on the Lindsay simple microscope in the Brooks Collection, the replica magnification slider was thought to be original to the microscope. This got us thinking: are there differences in the elemental composition between the replica magnification slider and the genuine article? In the next installment of the “Vintage Visits: The First Patented Microscope, Part 2”, we will explore the materials used to construct the Lindsay simple microscope and its accessories.