The animal or plant tissue to be sliced into thin sections is placed on a block over a stationary knife. By turning the large handle, the specimen moves up and down over the knife. Once cut into sections the specimens were mounted on slides, stained and studied under the microscope.

Invented by C S Minot around 1886, the model underwent modifications including one by Zimmermann in 1908. Zimmermann’s adaptation improved the cutting accuracy. The Minot microtome was also adapted to cut large sections of brain tissue.