LARGE BESTMICROSCOPE by James Smith:
J. Smith, LONDON, No. 22,
| DESCRIPTION | CONDITION | HISTORY | FIRST MICROSCOPES OF THE RMS | HODGKIN AND MICROSCOPY |
J. Smith London N° 22. The construction of this instrument utilizes a single piece of brass as the limb, connecting the optical body tube, passing through a single compass joint, with the stage supported on this limb which then connects to the substage mirror support. This construction is now known as the "Lister-limb" and this microscope, number 22, then is one of the earliest known examples. Focusing is by straight rack and pinion for coarse and nosepiece short-lever screw for fine adjustment. This instrument has an unusual stage control, known as a White Universal Lever Stage consisting of a brass-handled shaft with a ball on its mid portion attached to the limb, with its distal end a ball and socket joint controlling the stage,which is movable in any direction through an arrangement of a dovetail plate moving from right to left, and a dovetail motion forward and backward. The rack and pinion stage knobs and pinions, which were originally part of a traditional mechanical stage, have been removed, but the racks remain visible. This lever arrangement was considered ideal for following a moving organism as it swam about on the stage in a livebox. A sterrup-controlled lever stage, controlled from under the stage, was devised by Cornelius Varley apparently in the 1820's. Some of his earliest illustrations of such a device were published in the Transactions of the Society of Arts in 1831. He subsequently developed a form controlled by a single lever, patented in 1841 and reported in the Transactions of the Society of Arts in 1843. It was Alfred White, however who first developed the above-stage variety seen on Smith's models. Although the Smith model shown on this page had an existing mechanical stage that was modified for the purpose, within a year, as of 1841 a dedicated version of the White Universal lever stage was apparently available as it was supplied on microscope number 99. The stage on number 99, clearly an improvement over the version seen on number 22 seen here, had much more robust supports for the lever. It is interesting that the model shown on this page, number 22, which clearly dates to before 1841, had a White Universal Lever Stage. Two facts point to its later addition. First, and most important, is the fact that the remnants of a rack and pinion mechanical stage remain in the form of racks. Secondly, the publication announcing this device occurred three years later.
screwcompressor. Over the years, the author has collected other James Smith accessories which will be described elsewhere on this site; we know these were supplied with other early James Smith Microscopes, because they came with them in the original cases. When Smith sold accessories for his Best Microscope, some accessories were contained in small cardboard boxes the the abbreviation
J.S.B.preceding the name of the accessories. This likely stood for
James Smith's Best.... Accessories accompanying this instrument include:
Objectives include:
The three Smith objectives are in original cans signed in script Jas Smith, London,
but the magnification for the objective with correction collar is listed above rather than below Smith's name as it is on the other two. On the Ross can the magnification is also listed above Ross' name. The Ross signature differs from Smith's in that Ross lists his occupation as Optician whereas Smith simply lists his name;
Another difference is that the word London is in script on the Smith can but in block letters on Ross' can. On the other hand, cans for each of the two 22-numbered objectives are
of identical style, size and shape to each other. Interestingly, the cans for the two correction-collared objectives are similar to each other in size, and tooling except for the maker signatures (one can with the signature of Smith and the Other with the signature of Ross). It is quite possible these objectives, or at least their cans, were made by the same person, or at least the same engraver was used for each. In any case, they were most likely not originally supplied with the microscope.ball; interestingly, in those later examples of this exact model which include a White lever stage, this casing is wider and thicker than in this microscope. The screw holding the limb on the pillar is slightly bent, though this is hardly noticable. The accessories, optics, and focusing mechanisms are all in good working condition. The original case shows some wear and minor losses; its fittings have been reglued over the years.
maker to the trade.In 1826, J.J. Lister, (father of the famous surgeon) apparently bought his first Smith microscope from Tulley who employed Smith. That instrument was of a
Jones most improveddesign, except for the optical tube which included a lever-screw fine focus and was not tapered like many non-achromatic examples. According to the RMS journal, Lister asked the advice of Bates as to which instrument maker he should use, to make an improved model of microscope. He was apparently advised to see Smith directly, which he did.
The first owner of this microscope, Thomas Hodgkin(left) is most famous for his description (without a microscope), of Hodgkin
Disease, a malignant lymphoma. Although Hodgkin did not describe the microscopical features of this disease, he did become a proficient microscopist, and obviously owned this microscope. What is not well known to most is the great importance that Hodgkin's work with the microscope had. His work with cancer using a microscope was a pivotal achievement in the history of medicine and oncology in particular. Until Hodgkin's work, metastatic cancer was thought to be the simultaneous appearance of multiple single tumors. The idea that cancer originated in one location and then spread to others had not been known. In particular, how could the cancer spread from the belly to the chest with no apparent tumor in between? Hodgkin found the answer to this and other key questions through the use of the microscope. Under the microscope he discovered tumor cells spreading beyond the visible edge of the tumor; this led him to propose the resection of cancer beyond the visible margin. Under the microscope, he saw tumor cells entering blood vessels and proposed the mechanism of distant metastasis via spread in the blood stream. As shown here, his work on cancer was published in June 1843. The revelation of a primary tumor, that spread microscopically by direct invasion, and also microscopically by blood-born metastases, is to this day a basic essential concept in oncology. 
