COMPOUND MICROSCOPE (CANDLE BULLSEYE ILLUMINATOR)

MAKER:CARPENTER & WESTLEY (Attrib)

c. 1845-50

This illuminator utilizing a candle as a light source, uses a bullseye lens to concentrate the light, either directly on the specimen when opaque, or via the mirror when transparent. It has two screw-together lens components. When used for illuminating opaque specimens, the pair are used together. When used to illuminate the mirror for transparent specimens, the knurled ring containing the second lens is removed, leaving the single lens to illuminate the mirror. This is a feature seen only on bullseyes made by Phillip Carpenter, and his successors.