Benjamin Pike Senior
emigrated to the United States in 1804. He established
an optician's business in New York supplying scientific
instruments. His three sons, Benjamin Jr., Daniel, and
Gardiner carried on in the business with the father and
later on their own, sometimes as partners and, at other
times, as competitors (see this and this). It is believed that the microscope
shown here was made by Daniel Pike in the early 1870's.
It is a relatively large microscope measuring about
19-inches in height in the inclined position as shown
in the photos. It has some features similar to those
found on
Zentmayer's Grand American microscope, in
particular, with respect to the mechanical stage. The
horizontal movement of the stage utilizes a worm screw
and the vertical movement uses a fusee chain. The stage
surface has a calibrated rotating disk to hold the
slide. Pike also made another similar microscope, but
instead of the two flat uprights and Y-shaped base,
this microscope is supported on two cylindrical columns
on a tripod base, much like that found on the Grand
American model.
A history of the Pike family business is online.