Wednesday, 27 August 2008

A New Toy

I've stated previously that I'd like to replace my el cheapo microscope with a fancy new dissecting microscope, preferably with a trinocular head for photography. Well I still don't have one. However I have acquired another new toy. My wife recently popped in at a garage sale and saw an old microscope. Not knowing what I wanted she hesitated for a while as she didn't want to spend money on a piece of junk.

Well she bit the bullet and spent the cash. Here it is:

It's a Leitz Wetslar 'Dialux' with 12.5x wide angle eyepieces and 100x, 40x, 25, 10, and 4x objectives giving a magnification range of 50x to 1250x

Did she pay too much? I don't think so at just $10 :-) Mind you, based on the serial number it was made in about 1973 and I've had to pay a whopping $18 for a new light bulb. Still a bargain!

As far as I can tell everything else seems OK with it so here's hoping all is well when the bulb arrives. Now I need suggestions on what to use it for. A collection of animal hair samples perhaps? Any other suggestions?


(Click to enlarge)




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13 comments:

  1. SnailAugust 27, 2008

    My vote goes to pond microorganisms. They provide hours of entertainment :)

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  2. MosuraAugust 27, 2008

    Thanks Snail - Now there's an amusing diversion if ever there was one. Haven't done that for years :-)

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  3. DuncanAugust 27, 2008

    Words fail me, ten bucks!!!!

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  4. MosuraAugust 27, 2008

    Thanks Duncan - Not bad eh!

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  5. Tyto TonyAugust 27, 2008

    Don't look closely at anything you intend to eat:-))!

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  6. MosuraAugust 27, 2008

    Thanks Tyto Tony - LOL - Sounds like good advice :-)

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  7. Junior LepidAugust 28, 2008

    My vote is with Snail's! :-)

    Nice find, Mosura. I hope you have plenty of fun with the new toy.

    Love your last bird entries, by the way. Thumbs up again!

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  8. Tsun-Thai ChaiAugust 28, 2008

    I am using a similar one for observing pollen germination and soybean floral anatomy in my experiments.

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  9. MosuraAugust 28, 2008

    Thanks Chai - Sounds like fun. Are you germinating the pollen on it's own? If so, how do you rehydrate it?

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  10. MosuraAugust 28, 2008

    Thanks JL - I'm sure I will have fun with it. Glad you like the bird pics too.

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  11. Denis WilsonAugust 29, 2008

    Hi Mosura
    Sounds like great investment.
    If you can hook up a camera you can show us your discoveries.
    I would use it for examining fungal spores. Take a spore print on waxed paper, and away you go. Do not breathe in the spores, though.
    By the way, I also cannot find any simple explanation for the "caledonicus" name, other than its reference to Scotland - which makes little sense to me, either.
    Cheers
    Denis
    Denis

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  12. Denis WilsonAugust 29, 2008

    Hey, Mosura. By that blessed process known as "serendipity" I went from your posting about the microscope to the next on my list - Christopher's "Catalogue of Organisms". He has an hillarious posting there about Microscopes. You need to read it to get the joke.
    http://catalogue-of-organisms.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-juvenilia.html#links

    While there, why not ask him about the meaning of "caledonicus" as he is a taxonomist.

    Cheers
    Denis

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  13. MosuraAugust 29, 2008

    Thanks Denis - Spores may be interesting.

    Thanks for the link too - I'll have a Captain Cook.

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