The Microscope of Robley Dunglison, MD - 1798-1869

The microscope described here is signed on one leg of the folding tripod base, Jas. Smith, London, 109. James Smith was one of the three premier English microscope manufacturers of the Victorian era (the two others were A. Ross and H. Powell). He initially worked as foreman for W.Tully & Sons in the early 19th century where he constructed the brass work for the achromatic microscope designed by Joseph Jackson Lister in 1826. With the help of Lister, in 1839, he established his own firm. In 1847, Richard Beck, nephew of J. J. Lister, became a partner in the firm and was shortly followed by his brother Joseph Beck in 1857. After the retirement of Smith in 1865, the firm was known as R&J Beck.

In researching this microscope, it became apparent that it has considerable historical interest with respect to American medicine. This microscope was the instrument used by Robley Dunglison (1798-1869), America’s first full-time professor of medicine. Dunglison was the personal physician to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe and consulted in the treatment of Andrew Jackson. Dunglison was trained at various institutions in England and Paris after which he established a practice in London. In 1825, at the invitation of Thomas Jefferson, he was invited to join the faculty as Professor of Medicine at the newly formed University of Virginia where he taught anatomy, physiology, materia medica, and medical jurisprudence. In 1833, he left that institution and spent three years at the University of Maryland. He then moved to the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and remained there for the rest of his career. He was a prolific author and dedicated teacher. His textbook on physiology, first published in 1832 and updated in many editions, was the first of its kind by an American author and earned him the title “The Father of American Physiology”.

Evidence that this microscope was the property of Robley Dunglison first became apparent after consulting the Smith & Beck Delivery Books. There is the entry concerning the Smith microscope with serial number 109. The entry states that it is the “small microscope” model and that it was sold to “Dr. Dunglison” on Sept. 18, 1845. It remained to be established that this person was the physician Robley Dunglison. My purchase of this instrument was made from a source that indicated that the microscope has resided in the USA since the 19th century. In The Autobiographical ANA of Robley Dunglison, M. D. published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 53, part 8, 1963, Dunglison states “In the year 1844, being desirous of obtaining a good English microscope, I wrote Dr. Forbes, who entrusted the superintendence of its formation by Messr. Smith & Beck to Dr. Carpenter,- himself an excellent microscopist. I received it safely, and it gave me great satisfaction“. The Dr. Carpenter referred to in the above quote is William Benjamin Carpenter, MD (1813-1885). Additionally, Dunglison writes on p. 127 in his 1850 (7th edition) book entitled Human Physiology, in a discussion of the histology of hair follicles, “the author has had repeated opportunities for confirming it with his own admirable microscope made by Smith of London.”

Images of this microscope, its wood case, and accessories can be viewed on a page from my website located at http://www.antique-microscopes.com/photos/smith.htm.

I am a collector of antique brass microscopes and all kinds of early microscope accessories including: lenses, parts, microscope oil lamps, prepared slides, slide preparation equipment, and slide cabinets. Also needed for my collection are old microscope related books, trade catalogs, and artwork depicting antique microscopes. I have been collecting antique microscopes for over 30 years and there are still many that I am looking for. I am also interested in other types of historical medical and scientific instruments.

On my web site at http://www.antique-microscopes.com you can view some of the antique microscopes in my collection. They date from the late 18th to the early 20th century. I hope you find these instruments as interesting as I do.