An Unexpected Peek Into Nineteenth Century Microscopy

An Unexpected Peek Into Nineteenth Century Microscopy

by Barry B. Miller, New Jersey, USA

Often, we try to find answers but they escape us

. Sometimes, however, we are fortunate as we receive answers when not actively seeking them out. I am pleased to have experienced the latter situation a few months ago.

In an April 2001 Micscape article, I described some

nineteenth century slides that I had purchased (

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artapr01/bmgage.html

). The four slides share a common feature; they all have a label with “F. M. Kendall Jackson Mich.” printed on them. One of the slides (Stomach of Necturus), however, was different from the others in that the handwritten description on its label indicated that it was prepared by Prof. S. H. Gage on April 4, 1884 (see below).

The other three slides had no such notation. I speculated whether they may have also been prepared by Professor Gage, who was a prominent Professor at Cornell University long ago. I invited comments from the readers but heard nothing until one day in July 2004, when I received an unexpected email from Katherine Kendall.

Ms. Kendall said that she had just performed an Internet search of her great-grandfather's name (Franklin Mason Kendall) and came across my article. She explained that Franklin Mason Kendall lived in Jackson, Michigan during the years 1883 through 1886 and she was sure that it was his name that appears on the labels of the slides. That was an understandable conclusion but was there any additional evidence? Yes, there was - and it originated from Kendall himself. Franklin Mason Kendall kept a diary and Katherine Kendall, his great-granddaughter, has that diary!

Franklin Mason Kendall attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1878 (Nancy Dean, personal communication). Simon Henry Gage also attended Cornell, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural History in 1877 (Oscar W. Richards, Editor, October 1964). Shortly after his graduation, Gage began his long and illustrious career teaching at the University. Kendall also had an enthusiasm for teaching and at one time he was the Superintendent of Schools for Jackson, Michigan. The photograph below, provided by Katherine Kendall, shows Franklin Mason Kendall at the time of his first teaching job in Franklin, Pennsylvania. Besides teaching, both Professor Gage and Mr. Kendall shared another interest - microscopy.

In response to my request, Katherine Kendall patiently read through her great-grandfather's diary looking for some mention of microscopes or slides and hoped that there might even be a reference to Professor Gage. The great majority of the diary does not mention microscopes as it was a record of Mr. Kendall's daily activities, of which microscopes were just a part.

he search, however, was successful as Katherine Kendall found a diary page, dated “Oct. 6^th 1884,” that lists a microscope and several accessories that were purchased by her great-grandfather. The listed items are interesting, as are the prices. The diary page appears below.

Especially significant is the diary entry dated “Oct. 21 Sat,” as it provides the one clear link in the diary to Professor Gage. On that page, Mr. Kendall describes a visit that he made to Ithaca, New York in 1882 to see Gage and other professors. During that visit, Cornell University President A. D. White personally accompanied Mr. Kendall in visiting places of interest (see diary page below).

Another diary entry of particular interest is that of Nov. 27-29 (1884). That item appears, in the figure below, at the upper left. At first it seems rather insignificant; however, it is not. The second sentence indicates that Mr. Kendall spent an enjoyable visit with Mr. Griffith of Fairport. In actuality, Mr. Griffith of Fairport, New York was a rather notable figure in American microscopy. It is stated in Donald Padgitt's book on early American microscopes: “Griffith of Fairport, New York, was an active microscopist and designer of microscopes, objectives and accessories during the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century.” (Padgitt, 1975).

From the entries in the diary, it is clear that Franklin Mason Kendall had an interest in microscopy. Thus, there is no reason to believe that anyone other than Kendall, himself, prepared each of the slides discussed above. The exception is the Stomach of Necturus section which, according to the handwritten inscription on the label, was prepared by Prof. Gage. The inscription refers to Prof. Gage as if he were someone other than the person preparing the label. So, I suspect that while the section was prepared by the professor, Mr. Kendall prepared the label.

Arriving at these conclusions, however, was of minor importance to me when compared to the brief glimpse into nineteenth century American microscopy that this wonderful diary provided.

I offer my thanks to Katherine A. Kendall, who provided information on Franklin Mason Kendall and for graciously allowing me to include the pages from Mr. Kendall's diary. I am also grateful to my wife, Marcia, for reviewing the draft and making helpful suggestions.

Email comments to Barry Miller are welcomed.

References

Nancy Dean, Senior Reference Specialist, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Kroch Library, Cornell University, August 19, 2004 email communication.

Kendall, F. M., April 11, 1882, unpublished diary.

Padgitt, Donald L, 1975, A Short History of the Early American Microscopes, p. 116.

Richards, Oscar W., Editor, October 1964, Microscopy in America (1830-1945) by Simon Henry Gage, Transactions of the American Microscopical Society. Vol. LXXXIII, No. 4. Supplement, p. 5.

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Published in the September 2004 edition of Micscape Magazine.

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