Digital Clendening: Rare Text Images: Imaging: Ayscough, 1754

Ascough, J.A.

A description of the structure of a microscope, with the method of using it

at the Golden Spectacles and Quadrant, in Ludgate-Street. London, 1754.

"Although the introduction of the Cuff "New Constructed Double Microscope" was not an optical advance, it was the first time in some 40 years that a solidly built and stable microscope was put on the market. Cuff's design was of such sound quality that it was rapidly copied or slightly modified by numerous instrument makers. One of the earlest modifications of Cufff's instrument was made by Mann and Ayscough. The front projection of the Maltese cross-shaped stage was omitted, forming a two-arm stage. The stage, rather than the body, was moved in focusing. The substage mirror was double (plane on one side and concave on the other) instead of single, and the mirror was mounted on a sliding block at the base of the pillar. George Adams the Elder made additional modifications by providing interchangteable eyepieces, a sliding device for changing the objectives, and a sliding substage condenser. He also kept Mann's and Ayscough's two-arm stage and double mirror"
(18th-Century Microscopes McCormick, 1987).

"Early on, spectacles were usually held in place by hand as they rested precariously on the nose. It wasn't until the 1500's that someone fastened glasses in place with ribbons or cords tied behind the ears, says Joseph L. Bruneni, education director of the Optical Laboratories Association, Fairfax, Va., and author of an illustrated history of the U.S. ophthalmic industry. Later, Paris optician Marc Thomin added arms to eyeglasses, although they extended just to the temples, the better to accommodate the wigs customarily worn by men of property, the only people who could afford glasses. In 1730, English optician Edward Scarlett perfected the rigid side pieces, called temples, that rest atop the ears, and in 1752, James Ayscough advertised his invention: spectacles with double-hinged side pieces" (Timothy D. Schellhardt).

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© 2000 University of Kansas Medical Center Comments: clendening@kumc.edu Revised: May 11, 2000