(ANSA) - ROME, OCTOBER 19 - A microscope that belonged to Charles Darwin will be auctioned at Christie's on December 15 and, according to expert assessments, its price could reach 350 thousand pounds (about 415 thousand euros).
The Daily Mail reports that the instrument, made in 1825, was given by the English naturalist to his son Leonard and has since been handed down in the family from father to son for almost 200 years. It is one of six microscopes used by Darwin throughout his life.
In the year the microscope was produced Darwin was studying zoophytes such as corals, sea anemones and sponges and it is likely that he used this very instrument for research as the only other known microscope he had at the time would not have been suitable. (HANDLE).
