Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

Abbe refractometer from Bellingham & Stanley Ltd. (1950s)

The Abbe refractometer was first invented by Ernst Abbe in 1869. Leonard Bellingham and Frank Stanley founded Bellingham & Stanley Ltd. in 1914, producing Abbe refractometers focused on the sugar, food and pharmaceuticals markets. In 1920, they released an improved Abbe refractometer in which the scale was on glass externally, so could be read easily and accurately. Having been family owned for almost a century, the company was acquired by Nova Analytics in 2007 and, in 2010, the ITT Corporation acquired Nova Analytics and integrated it as ITT Analytics. In 2011, the ITT corporation split into three companies, with Bellingham & Stanley playing an important role in the water business company Xylem Inc. This item is a standard Abbe refractometer produced by Bellingham & Stanley Ltd., harbours the serial number 465005, and should be dated to the 1950s (Figure 1). The instrument has a refractive index scale on glass and is read by transmitted light.

Figure 1. Abbe refractometer from Bellingham & Stanley as pictured in a firm’s advert from the 1950s.

References

Abbe Refractometer, about 1956 (https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co440751/abbe-refractometer-about-1956-refractometer), last accessed on 09.09.2021

LAST EDITED: 09.09.2021