Compound Microscope with Accessories, by Passemant, Paris, c. 1750

Compound microscope with accessories, by Passemant, Paris, c. 1750. The copper alloy pillar of the microscope (.1) consists of two bars, held together by sleeves, standing in a socket on the wooden box base. A scrolled strut is attached to the socket. A threaded ring on an arm at the top of the pillar supports the body tube and a vertical screw at the rear of the pillar raises and lowers the arm for focusing. The eyepiece has a sliding dust cover and objectives screw onto an external thread at the lower, narrow end of the body. The cruciform stage has a pinhole and a keyhole slot. The base is a walnut box decorated with inlay. The accessory drawer which has a large square compartment for the larger accessories and seven circular holders for the objectives, with green plush linings for padding (.2) holds a copper alloy fishplate (.3), six round objects that comprise a live box, a black and white disk, a copper alloy collar, a lens in a copper alloy setting, a circular spring stage and a set of three thin card rings painted black (.4), stage forceps on a copper alloy pin (.5), a copper alloy spatula (.6) and five copper alloy objectives (.7) that are marked 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The interiors are painted black