Withering-type botanical microscope, 1780
The “Withering-type Microscope” is named for its inventor, Dr. William Withering (1741-1799), an English physician and botanist who graduated with a degree in medicine 1766 in Edinburgh. Inspired by the taxonomical work and systematic classification of Carl Linnæus (1707-1778), Withering (1776) applied the Linnaean taxonomical system of classification to British plants in a seminal, two volume work, A Botanical arrangement of all the vegetables naturally growing in the British Isles. The earliest reference to a small botanical microscope of Withering’s design appeared in the first edition of this book. There, Withering indicated this microscope was developed for field dissections of flowers and other plant parts. While there is no surviving example of this exact design, close relatives of this type do exist, made either completely of brass or of ivory with brass pillars. Ivory models can be tentatively dated to 1776-1785, as by 1787 a newer model with a hollowed stage in an all-brass configuration already predominated. In turn, it was preceded by the brief appearance of a transitional brass model but with solid stage of ivory or horn (seen here). This version is extremely rare and must have been produced in very small numbers. By 1787 all these varieties were not recorded anymore in the literature.
Withering-type botanical microscope, 1780
The “Withering-type Microscope” is named for its inventor, Dr. William Withering (1741-1799), an English physician and botanist who graduated with a degree in medicine 1766 in Edinburgh. Inspired by the taxonomical work and systematic classification of Carl Linnæus (1707-1778), Withering (1776) applied the Linnaean taxonomical system of classification to British plants in a seminal, two volume work, A Botanical arrangement of all the vegetables naturally growing in the British Isles. The earliest reference to a small botanical microscope of Withering’s design appeared in the first edition of this book. There, Withering indicated this microscope was developed for field dissections of flowers and other plant parts. While there is no surviving example of this exact design, close relatives of this type do exist, made either completely of brass or of ivory with brass pillars. Ivory models can be tentatively dated to 1776-1785, as by 1787 a newer model with a hollowed stage in an all-brass configuration already predominated. In turn, it was preceded by the brief appearance of a transitional brass model but with solid stage of ivory or horn (seen here). This version is extremely rare and must have been produced in very small numbers. By 1787 all these varieties were not recorded anymore in the literature.
References: SML: A242712; Goren 2014.
References: SML: A242712; Goren 2014.
Prof. Yuval Goren's Collection of the History of the Microscope
Compound Microscopes by Ernst Leitz
Ernst Leitz, Wetzlar, Stativ C, 1922, used by Dr. Gad Edelman
Dr. Gad Edelman (1886 - 09/01/1976) was one of the first dermatologists and venereologists to practice in Israel. He acquired this microscope in 1922, three years before immigrating to Tel Aviv (then in Palestine under British mandate) in 1925 from the Soviet Union. Before his immigration, he served as a military doctor during World War I. He was also part of the medical team that treated Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, commonly known as Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Soviet Union, until his death in 1924.
This model, referred to as Stand C, was introduced by Ernst Leitz Wetzlar in 1905 and was commonly used for routine examinations in clinical laboratories. The Leitz catalog describes the microscope as follows: it is a large model, slightly smaller than models A and B, featuring a horseshoe base. The stand is foldable and comes with a rotating and centerable stage. Coarse adjustment is achieved using a gear and pinion system, while fine adjustment utilizes a new, infinitely effective design that protects the specimen and includes drum graduation (with one graduation equating to 0.002 mm). The tube is extendable and has millimeter graduation markings. Additionally, it includes a large Abbe illumination apparatus equipped with a gear and pinion system, as well as an iris diaphragm that allows for lateral movement. Both the cylindrical diaphragm and condenser are interchangeable.
Dr. Edelman established his clinic in Tel Aviv, attracting complex cases from across the country. His medical practice gained recognition in the then-small city of Tel Aviv and included pioneering treatments for male fertility issues. He collaborated with Dr. Aryeh Sadovsky (1890–1976), a gynecologist in Jerusalem who simultaneously addressed female fertility problems.
Dr. Edelman established his first clinic in Beit HaDekel (the Palm House) in the mid-1920s and continued to operate it despite a fire that broke out there in 1929. In 1935, he purchased a plot of land at 28 Mohaliver Street and operated the clinic there, which was renumbered to 47 over the years. He continued to treat patients until around 1970 and passed away in 1976. He experienced personal tragedy when his only son, Hanoch, died unexpectedly in 1929 while he was a high school student at the Herzliya Gymnasium. In 1947, Dr. Edelman adopted a 7-year-old Holocaust survivor from Lviv, who had arrived in Israel from Poland, naming her Hanita in memory of his son.
Dr. Gad Edelman, 1947
Dr. Gad Edelman in his clinic, 1939
Dr. Aryeh Sadovsky
The microscope
In the Ernst Leitz sales catalog from 1913 (Ernst Leitz Optical and Mechanical Works: Microscopes; Catalog No. 45A; Wetzlar 1913, updated only in 1925), Stand C features several options for the eyepiece and objective combinations. The combination highlighted here (Cuadra) is the most expensive and well-equipped option, including four objectives: 2x, 4x, 6x, and an oil immersion lens with a 1/12 aperture (Ap. 130), along with eyepieces I, III, IV, and V. The price for this configuration was 420 marks.
Calculating exchange rates in 1922 is a challenging task. Both Germany and the Soviet Union were experiencing significant economic upheavals. In Germany, this period marked the beginning of severe inflation, largely due to the heavy reparations demanded by the Versailles Treaty. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was facing economic difficulties stemming from the Bolshevik Revolution. By 1928, the average salary of a medical doctor in the Soviet Union was 99 rubles per month (Lichterman 2005). In any case, the sales catalogs indicated that the company provided the model in several configurations, with the highest level of equipment costing the equivalent of about £3,500 today. This price was undoubtedly beyond the means of most doctors or clinics in the Soviet Union during that period. As a result, I reached out to the Hessian Economic Archive in Darmstadt, Germany, where an expert on the history of German microscopes informed me that the sales records of the Ernst Leitz company are kept. I requested to verify who specifically purchased this microscope. I received the following response:
Dear Professor Goren,
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Leitz microscope S.N. 205795.
We have been doing intensive research for you over the last few days. Unfortunately, hints on the model can only be found in a sales list (outgoing book) from Wetzlar. It shows that the microscope was shipped on August 31, 1922. Unfortunately, there is no further information about to whom and where the item was sent.
The files in the Leitz inventory are very voluminous, but also very incomplete in some areas. Unfortunately, the model number is not listed again in any other documents.
I hope this little piece of information will help you.
Best,
apl. Prof. Dr. Ingo Köhler
Geschäftsführer/Head of HWA
Hessisches Wirtschaftsarchiv
This means that absolute secrecy was required regarding the identity, address, and even the nationality of the individual or entity on whose behalf this microscope was ordered. This level of confidentiality is quite unusual in the sales records of companies like Ernst Leitz when they market scientific equipment to the civilian sector.
Therefore, it is likely that the purchase of this microscope was conducted with a high degree of secrecy to protect the identity of the buyer and the intended purpose of the acquisition. This aligns with the broader context, as Lenin's illness was kept under wraps until his death in 1924, and the first symptoms had appeared two years earlier.
Lenin's illness and death
Vladimir Lenin died on January 21, 1924, in Gorki, near Moscow. An autopsy was conducted on January 24 by Professor Aleksey Abrikosov, accompanied by Dr. Nikolai Semashko, the Commissar of Health, along with 27 Russian pathologists and Professor Otfried Förster. During the examination, Lenin's brain was studied. Signs of degeneration were observed, particularly in the left hemisphere, and two areas of softening were identified in the right occipitotemporal region. The blood vessels above the corpora quadrigemina showed signs of congestion, and indications of hemorrhage were present. Abrikosov diagnosed Lenin with diffuse atherosclerosis affecting the brain's arteries. In the USSR, it was mandatory for treating physicians to participate in the autopsy and sign its report. Out of the 27 doctors who had treated Lenin—including eight foreign physicians—only eight chose to sign: seven Russians and one German (Förster), who did not speak Russian. Additionally, two pathologists also signed the report. Notably, the renowned director of the Brain Institute in Petrograd, Professor Vladimir Bekhterev (1857–1927), who had examined Lenin on at least one occasion, was not invited to the autopsy. However, subsequent researchers have suggested that Lenin may have suffered from neurosyphilis (Lerner et al. 2004) or, according to more recent studies, a mutation of the NT5E gene (Vinters et al. 2013). The Soviet Union's attempts to conceal Lenin's venereal disease and his overall health issues have made his diagnosis a subject of ongoing debate.
Leaving the Soviet Union
Shortly after Lenin's death, Gad Edelman, Hinda Edelman, and their son Gavrich arrived in Jaffa harbor on the ship Tsaritsyn on July 27, 1925. (Notably, the ship's name was misspelled as "ציצרין" in the Zionist Archive file S104/559). We lack specific information about their hasty departure to remote Palestine in the mid-1920s, but one hypothesis suggests it may be related to the circumstances surrounding Lenin's mysterious death.
Lenin passed away in January 21st, 1924. The Russian doctors who treated him faced severe danger. This is significant because Dr. Gad Edelman's name was not included in the list of doctors who signed the official report on Lenin's post-mortem condition. At that time, Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, wielded power and began consolidating authority to become an absolute dictator by the 1930s. Under his regime, the lives of these doctors were in grave jeopardy.
Edelman's descendants report that, according to his account, it was Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda who assisted him in escaping from the Soviet Union. Genrikh Yagoda (1891-1938) was a prominent Soviet secret police official who served as the director of the NKVD, the Soviet Union's security and intelligence agency, from 1934 to 1936. Born into a Jewish family, he joined the Bolsheviks in Nizhny Novgorod at the age of 16 or 17 and was arrested and exiled in 1911. After the October Revolution of 1917, Yagoda quickly advanced through the ranks of the Cheka (the predecessor to the OGPU and NKVD) to become the second deputy to Felix Dzerzhinsky, the head of the Cheka, in September 1923. Following Dzerzhinsky's appointment as chairman of the Supreme Council of National Economy in January 1924, Yagoda became the deputy chief and the effective manager of the State Political Directorate (OGPU). Although Yagoda had known Joseph Stalin since 1918, when both were stationed in Tsaritsyn during the civil war, he was never considered "Stalin's man." However, once it became clear that the right-wing factions were losing the power struggle, Yagoda switched his allegiance.
On July 10, 1934, Joseph Stalin appointed Yagoda as People's Commissar for Internal Affairs, a role that encompassed oversight of both the regular and secret police (the NKVD). Over time, Stalin grew increasingly dissatisfied with Yagoda's performance. In March 1937, Yagoda was arrested on Stalin's orders. He was later found guilty of treason and conspiracy against the Soviet government during the Trial of the Twenty-One in March 1938 and was quickly executed following the trial.
The nature of the relationship between Dr. Edelman and Yagoda, as well as the reason Yagoda rescued him from Stalin's regime, remains unclear. It is possible that their Jewish heritage played a role in this. In 1924, Yagoda accompanied the head of government in the USSR on a ship tour. An American journalist who was permitted to join the trip described Yagoda as "a spare, slightly tanned, trim-looking, youngish officer," noting that it was "difficult to associate terror with such an affable and modest person." It is conceivable that these qualities, which would later vanish, allowed Yagoda to leverage his connections to rescue the Jewish doctor from peril.
Yagoda and his wife Ida Averbakh, deputy prosecutor of Moscow, 30 September 1922 (public domain)
The Microscope Takes Action Again.
In 1921, Jaffa was the second-largest city in the Palestine, with a population of 42,000 people. The city was diverse, comprising approximately 26,000 Arabs and about 16,000 Jews, 10,000 of whom had recently arrived following the end of World War I. The Jewish residents lived both in Jaffa itself, particularly in neighborhoods like Neve Tzedek in Tel Aviv, and in mixed communities such as Manshiyya, which provided a peaceful enclave for Hebrew speakers in the region.
At that time, Tel Aviv was a small neighborhood with a population of 3,600, most of whom earned their living in Jaffa. The Tel Aviv Committee tried to prevent the establishment of commercial shops and workshops within the neighborhood to maintain its character as a garden suburb. After the violent events of 1921, many Jews from Jaffa moved to Tel Aviv. During this period, the regulations that had prohibited economic activity in Tel Aviv were repealed, allowing the city's economy to grow. The establishment of the Carmel Market marked a significant development in the area. Since then, Tel Aviv has rapidly expanded, with its population increasing from 3,600 inhabitants in 1914 to 34,000 in 1925.
Seashore cafe in Jaffa, 1925 (public domain)
In 1926, Dr. Edelman established his first clinic at the House of the Palm (בֵּית הַדֶּקֶל) located at 8 Nahalat Binyamin Street. He advertised the clinic under the title: "Dr. Gad Edelman – Dermatologist and Urologist, Electrotherapy Institute." The house, built in 1922 with the assistance of architect Yehoshua Tabachnik for Sheina-Haya and Isser Cohen, reflects the architectural trends of its time. Many architects felt it was their responsibility to adorn their buildings with symbols and motifs that highlighted Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean setting. The architectural style of the house is eclectic, typical of the period, but it also incorporates influences from the Art Nouveau movement. Tabachnik chose a palm tree, which prominently rises from the building’s façade, as the central motif of his design. As a result, the house became popularly known as "Beit HaDekel" (House of the Palm).
Originally intended for residential use, the house underwent a transformation within a few years. The ground floor was repurposed for commercial stores, while the upper floors continued to serve as residences. This change was part of a broader trend that emerged along Nahalat Binyamin Street in the late 1920s and continued throughout the 1930s.
The House of the Palm in 1925 (public domain).
The clinic was the first in Tel Aviv to specialize in skin and venereal diseases. It was also the first to be equipped with an X-ray machine and other advanced analytical equipment for that time. Eventually, the clinic was relocated to Mohaliver Street, not far from the original site, where it operated until 1970. The first medical school in Israel opened just a few years after the establishment of the initial clinics and did not acquire its first microscopes until 1927 (see here).
Refernces
Lerner, V., Finkelstein, Y., & Witztum, E. (2004). The enigma of Lenin's (1870–1924) malady. European Journal of Neurology, 11(6), 371-376.
Lichterman, B.L. (2005). Soviet medical ethics, 1917-1991. Journal international de bioéthique 16 (3-4): 33-41.
Vinters, H., Lurie, L., & Mackowiak, P. A. (2013). Vessels of Stone: Lenin's" Circulatory Disturbance of the Brain". Human Pathology, 44(10), 1967-1972.