Ultra-Microtome Type Fernandez-Moran made by Leitz Wetzlar, c.1961

Ultra-Microtome, Type Fernandez-Moran, a small thermal feed microtome mounted on large desk, made by Leitz-Wetzlar, Germany, c.1961. Complete with motor drive, stereo, draught shield and dust cover.

Ultra-microtomes like this machine are used to cut specimens into extremely thin slices that can be studied at different magnifications by transmission electron microscopes (TEM). This technique is useful for studying biological specimens, mounted into plastic specimen blocks. The blocks are clamped into the microtome, and glass or diamond knives slice the specimen into ultra-thin sections, roughly the equivalent of splitting a 0.1 mm-thick human hair into 2,000 slices along its diameter, or cutting a single red blood cell into 100 slices. This type of ultra-microtome is known as a Fernandez-Moran, made by Leitz Wetzlar, c.1961.