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Microscope slide
Three mounted microscopial specimens, two are dated 1880 in a box marked AST1029.25.
These microscope slides come from a 15-drawer cabinet found in the Herschel family home in the 1950s. The contents of this and a similar cabinet seem to suggest that they were used by successive generations of the family to store specimens, material and apparatus for carrying out experiments.
Each slide is labelled. The first reads (handwritten) 'Xtalline Flower of Carbon on platinum wire. - J. Swan 1880'. Xtalline is short for Crystalline, while flower refers to the appearance of the crystal structure under the microscope.
The second reads (handwritten) 'Xtallizn on platinum in a carbon kiln (? C or Si) - J. Swan 1880'. Again, Xtallizn is short for Crystallization. J. Swan almost certainly refers to Joseph Swan (1828-1914) who was based for a large part of his life in and around Newcastle and was at the time these slides were produced actively involved with the Newcastle Chemical Society. Joseph Swan is an important name in the development of electric lighting developing a carbon filament incandescent lamp in 1860.
These slides may have been given to Alexander Stewart Herschel, also based in Newcastle at the time, by Joseph Swan.
These microscope slides come from a 15-drawer cabinet found in the Herschel family home in the 1950s. The contents of this and a similar cabinet seem to suggest that they were used by successive generations of the family to store specimens, material and apparatus for carrying out experiments.
Each slide is labelled. The first reads (handwritten) 'Xtalline Flower of Carbon on platinum wire. - J. Swan 1880'. Xtalline is short for Crystalline, while flower refers to the appearance of the crystal structure under the microscope.
The second reads (handwritten) 'Xtallizn on platinum in a carbon kiln (? C or Si) - J. Swan 1880'. Again, Xtallizn is short for Crystallization. J. Swan almost certainly refers to Joseph Swan (1828-1914) who was based for a large part of his life in and around Newcastle and was at the time these slides were produced actively involved with the Newcastle Chemical Society. Joseph Swan is an important name in the development of electric lighting developing a carbon filament incandescent lamp in 1860.
These slides may have been given to Alexander Stewart Herschel, also based in Newcastle at the time, by Joseph Swan.
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