According to http://neurolab.jsc.nasa.gov/purkinje.htm

"Purkinje was the first to use the microtome (to slice
thin tissue sections), glacial acetic acid, potassium
bichromate and Canada balsam in the preparation of
tissue samples for microscopic examination. Purkinje
described the effects of camphor, opium, belladonna
and turpintine on humans in 1829. An early user of the
improved compound microscope, he discovered the sweat
glands of the skin in 1833, germinal vessicles in
1825, recognized fingerprints as a means of
identification in 1823 and noted the protein-digesting
power of pancreatic extracts in 1836. Johannes
Evangelista Purkinje was a pioneer to experimental
physiology whose investigations in the fields of
histology, embryology and pharmacology helped to
create a modern understanding of the eye and vision,
brain and heart function, mammalian reproduction and
the composition of cells. Purkinje died at the age of
82 on July 28, 1869".


According to Leica, "In 1872, the precision engineer
Rudolf Jung and the pathologist Rudolf Thoma developed
the first microtome in series production. This marked
the beginning of a new era in histology. For the first
time it was possible to cut tissue samples in
reproducible thin sections for microscopic evaluation
- an extraordinary precision for this time period."

Except from Bausch and Lomb's Chronology.  "1890 -
Company began production of anastigmatic photographic
lenses; microtomes and photomicrographic equipment".

Best Wishes
Steve Machin UK


--- MTitford@aol.com wrote: > From my miniscule
knowlege of the history of
> medicine, I suspect that 
> inventions like the microtome are more like
> collaborative efforts, with 
> different researchers in different parts of the
> world building on each others 
> efforts.Then at some point, an entrepreneur like
> Spencer starts manufacturing 
> them.
> 
> A recent article about Dr Jan Evangelista Purkinje
> states he, "used the 
> forerunner of the modern microtome instead of
> cutting histologic sections 
> freehand with a razor" (1) so he is another
> contributor.
> 
> (1) "The extraordinary career of Dr Purkinje" 
> Venita Jay M.D., F.R.C.P.C., 
> Arch Pathol Lab Med 124: 662-663. May 2000.
> 
> Mike Titford
> USA  Pathology
> Mobile AL 
> 


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