Beale-type demonstration microscope, English, late 19th century

The Beale microscope was used to teach students how to use the microscope and what things they should be looking for. Once the instrument had been focussed, the settings could be fixed. When passed from student to student, each saw the same image. The oil lamp at the end of the microscope was used to light the object. The lampshade is missing.

The microscope was designed sometime between 1850 and 1875 by Lionel Smith Beale (1828-1906), a physician who helped popularise microscopy in medicine, especially for diagnostics.