The five objectives supplied with this microscope were all made by Henry Crouch, London.

The dating of this microscope relies of the fact that James Powell Swift was located on City Road only for a few years, 1870-1872. He was thereafter located at 43 University St. and by 1877, the firm was known as James Swift & Son.

This binocular microscope was specially designed for both conventional and polarized light microscopy. The nosepiece has a Nicol prism mounted above the Wenham prism with each residing in a sliding brass box so that they can be introduced or removed from the light path. This arrangement can allow for simultaneous use of both prisms thereby resulting in a stereoscopic image using polarized light. A specialize achromatic substage condenser, described below, was designed for this microscope.

Extracted from: English Mechanic and Mirror of Science, Vol. 11, 1870 :

A short time since Mr. James Swift, of the City Road, presented to the Royal Microscopical Society an achromatic condenser he had just completed, which has the advantage of containing more accessories than any other piece of apparatus, as Figs. 8 and 9 will show:

A, optical combination.

B, rack adjustment for focussing.

C, sliding frame with parts for dark ground illumination.

D, large diaphragm.

E, rotating cap to carry test stops.

F, small diaphragm of apertures.

G, polarizing prism.

H, selenite diaphragm.

I, oblique light shutter.