Monocular Viewing Dissecting Microscope, 19th Century (OPTIC04)

This is a civilian Dissecting Microscope in its wooden case.

According to collector George Fulford's notes:

I know I don’t have the correct title for this piece, in fact I had forgotten I even had it till I opened the lid. But it’s very attractive and the extra viewing lens is still in its original cardboard container. Another surprise was finding it had a drawer in the bottom of the case and inside was another monocular lens and two exquisite ivory handled knives.

Wow, I shudda gone to Google first, but I’m leaving the above alone to indicate my total ignorance. Google has a lot on the Watson company and even a picture and description of this item. It is a ‘Simple Dissecting Microscope’, produced before 1890 – because of its serial number of 2537 – and that the Watson Company merged with the Dutch Phillips Company in 1966.

Lesson learned: I’ll Google all future items ahead of writing about them.