Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

    

Microscope 7 (J Swift & Son; discovery model; c. 1901)

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James Swift were microscope makers trading from London and founded in 1853 by James Powell Swift, who was son of the watchmaker Thomas Swift. Before founding his company, James Swift was apprenticed to the well-known microscope maker Andrew Ross. In 1881 they made improvements to microscope design, including the replacement of the straight rack and pinion focusing to helical cut components and a new fine focus system. In 1884, Mansell James Swift, son of James Powell, joined the company and the name was changed to James Swift & Son. In 1901, Captain Scott was supplied with Swift microscopes for use on the R.R.S. Discovery for the 1901-1904 expedition, named in the catalogue of the time as the 'Discovery' model. In 1903, Mansell Powell John Swift, grandson of the founder, joined the company. In 1906, the founder of the company, James Powell Swift, died. In 1912, the company was incorporated as a limited company and the name changed to J. Swift Ltd. In 1942, both Mansell Powell and Mansell James died. In 1946, ER Watts and Son Ltd took over the company, mainly due to the association between the Watts and Swift families in earlier years. In 1949, they employed John H. Basset who, in 1968, took over the company. Microscope 7 from J. Swift & Son is known as the discovery model and was originally designed in 1901 for use on the R.R.S. Discovery for the 1901 - 1904 Antarctic expedition (the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage sixty years earlier). The instrument is named histological and physiological microscope in the company’s 1906 catalogue (Figure 1). The stand of this microscope is a derivation of the histological model introduced by Swift in 1894. It bears the characteristic diagonal rack for the coarse focusing, introduced by Swift in 1881. The original iris diaphragm is absent from microscope 7. The serial number of this microscope is B-14756.

Figure 1. The discovery microscope model as pictured in a 1906 J. Swift & Son’s catalogue.

 

References

James Swift and Son (https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/James_Swift_and_Son), last accessed on 12.08.2020

'NEW HISTOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL MICROSCOPE' (https://www.microscope-antiques.com/discoveryEXP.html), last accessed on 12.08.2020

J. Swift & son "Discovery" model, c.a. 1905 (http://www.igm.cnr.it/pagine-personali/maga/maga-microscopes/swift/), last accessed on 12.08.2020

Goren Collection of the History of the Microscope - J. Swift & Son, The Discovery Microscope, 1901-10 (https://www.microscopehistory.com/swift--son-discovery), last accessed on 02.01.2012

James Swift & Son (1906) Catalogue of microscopes (22nd Edition)

 

LAST EDITED: 15.08.2020