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Petrographic Folding Portable Compound Microscope Accessory kit

MODEL:'MINOR 5 MINERALOGICAL ACCESSORY KIT'

MAKER: ERNST LEITZ

SERIAL NUMBER: None

c. 1930

DESCRIPTION HISTORY

Please Click On Any Picture for a Larger Version

This page illustrates the 'Mineralogical' Polarized light Accessory kit and its installation on a Leitz Minor microscope. These accessories convert the 'Minor' into a 'Minor' Pol Scope.

DESCRIPTION:

The accessory box contains three main parts. These include the understage polarizer, the calibrated rotating stage attachement, and the eyepiece analyzer. The polarizer screws in under the stage. Its prism can be rotated. The rotating stage attachment fits into the holes for the stage clips. It is calibrated from 0 to 36(360 degrees) in 5 degree increments, labeled every ten degrees but with the zero left out of each number; i.e. one hundred degrees is marked '10'. The stage attachment has centering controls and there is a selenite slider which fits in from the front. The analyzer assembly clamps to the top of the eyepiece and rotates. It is also calibrated in the same fashion as the stage. The analyzer can be turned aside to use only the polarizer. The red leather-covered case is labeled on top in gold letters 'E. Leitz, Wetzlar' all in a straight line. The bottom of the case is lined with a black material with red plush fittings and sides. The inside of the lid is lined with red plush.


HISTORY:
The 'Minor' and its accessories were made for a relatively short time from about 1924 to 1934. Polarized light accessories were available for converting the Minor into a mineralogical or pol scope. These included a complete selection of petrographic accessories in two different kits.

1929 listing The 'Minor 5, Mineralogical Accessories' kit, shown on this page, includes an attachable rotary stage with vernier and centering screws, an attachable polarizer and an analyzer (with the analyzer in a swing-out mount); it also has a single selenite slider.

The additional 'Minor 6, Auxilliary Equipment to Mineralogical Accessories' kit was listed to include a Bertrand lens to thread onto the oculars, a 30X objective, a two-lens condenser for the polarizer, and a set of eight selenites and mica plates to be 'placed upon the ocular'.

Fully equipped with all of these, this may be the most complete miniature petrographic microscope ever made. The Mineralogical accessories kit is rarely seen and Dan Kile reports seeing less than 7 examples. In addition, we note that we know of no extant examples of the 'Minor 6' 'Auxiliary Equipment' set (with the Bertrand lens).

CONDITION: All parts work as they should. There is minimal loss of plating to the rotating stage and its slide clips. There is staining to the top of the case as seen in the images.

The authors are grateful to Dan Kile, author of: The Petrographic Microscope: Evolution of a Mineralogical Research Instrument, for his expert assistance in providing much of the information on this page.
See:
The Petrographic Microscope: Evolution of a Mineralogical Research Instrument. Special Publication No. 1, A Supplement to The Mineralogical Record, November-December 2003, The Mineralogical Record Inc., P.O. Box 35565, Tucson, Arizona 85740; email: minrec@aol.com; telephone: 520-297-6709.