Pantoscope du Dr Ed Langlebert signed by Mathieu a Paris. A fine example of one of the early illuminated instruments for endoscopy.

Light from a wick placed in the mirrored tin receptacle is focused through a lens and reflected at 90 degrees by an angled mirror toward the subject area. The mirror which has a central hole allows the user to look along the plane of light from behind. (Similar principle to the later Brunton Otoscope). This remarkable instrument comes with a full complement of speculae for vaginal and rectal use plus various tools for instrumentation. A similar piece is in the Welcome collection (London Science Museum)

• From the Phisick collection