Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

Abbe refractometer from Adam Hilger (1921)

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The Abbe refractometer was first invented by Ernst Abbe in 1869. Adam Hilger started his business in 1874. After Adam’s death, in Brighton in 1897, his brother Otto took over the business. The following year, in 1898, Frank Twyman joined the company, and he took over as manager in 1902 when Otto died. The company was incorporated as a limited company in 1904. Hilger's main products were optical parts and specialized instruments such as spectrometers. After the First World War, a significant holding in the company was sold to T. Cooke and Sons but Twyman bought back the shares in 1926. In 1946, E.R. Watts acquired 78% of the company and, in 1948, Adam Hilger Ltd was amalgamated with E. R. Watts and Son as Hilger and Watts Ltd, which was incorporated as a public company. The company was listed at 75a Camden Road, London, and 98 St. Pancras Way, Camden Road, London. Adam Hilger introduced an Abbe refractometer around 1918 (Figure 1). This item is one of such refractometers produced by the company, including the thermometer, dated from 1921. The instrument is almost identical to the ones produced at the same time by Carl Zeiss and is labelled on the telescope bracket with ‘ADAM HILGER LTD, LONDON, ENGLAND’. The serial number is also engraved on the inside of the telescope arm: No M46.306, 21567. The serial number before the slash gives the model number (M46) followed by the number of the instrument (306). The two digits immediately following the comma tell the year of manufacture (1921).

 

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Figure 1. Abbe refractometer from Adam Hilger, new 1918 model, with water-jacketed prisms, as engraved in a catalogue from Arthur H. Thomas Co., Laboratory Apparatus and Reagents, Philadelphia (1921).

 

References

Abbe Refractometer Adam Hilger No M46.304/19203 (https://www2.humboldt.edu/scimus/RefracExhibit/AbbeDesc/Hilger_Abbe.htm), last accessed on 17.09.2021

The Evolution of the Abbe Refractometer (https://www2.humboldt.edu/scimus/RefracExhibit/EvolAbbeRef/EvolAbbeRef.htm), last accessed on 17.09.2021

The Abbe Refractometer (https://www2.humboldt.edu/scimus/RefracExhibit/HilgAbbeLeaflet/TitleP.html), last accessed on 17.09.2021

The Abbe Refractometer (https://www2.humboldt.edu/scimus/RefracExhibit/HilgerManual19/TitleP.html), last accessed on 17.09.2021

 

 

LAST EDITED: 17.09.2021