Modern Microscopes ¹

Abstract

IN spite of the attention which has of late years been paid to the improvements of every detail of microscope construction, it is remarkable how Powell's No. 1 stand has now existed, practically unchanged, for some fifty years. It may therefore be considered a permanent type, and it is one to which the best modern instruments conform more and more. Its most obvious peculiarity, however, a tripod base, has not yet become general. The heavy horseshoe foot is still in all but universal favour on the Continent, although Powell's base is occasionally imitated. Thus the Leitz firm in 1893, and the Hartnack firm in 1898, brought out large model microscopes on a tripod base; Greenough's low-power stereoscopic binocular microscope (1898) is similarly equipped. This last instrument, which is the most recent binocular novelty, is highly esteemed. It is made by Zeiss, is fitted with porro prisms, and, among other advantages, affords views of the under as well as the upper side of an object.