Compressorium

The compressorium (plural: compressoria) is an antique scientific apparatus for applying pressure to a sample for examination with a microscope widely used by microscopists in the 19th century. They were produced by companies such as Bausch and Lomb.

Many versions of compressoria were developed over the years, with one of the first versions attributed to the famous histologist Jan Evangelista Purkyně, see picture.

Compressoria were still used in the twenty-first century for the identification of Trichinella worms in samples.