1-158-127 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Giant burning glass of the Academie des Sciences, Paris, 18th century, (1874). Constructed under the direction of Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) and others, it was used for chemical experiments. Mounted on a wheeled platform, its lenses were pointed at the sun whose rays they brought to a focus on a stand at the left of the platform, in this case burning whatever was placed there. From Les Applications de la Physique by Amedee Guillemin. (Paris, 1874).