Plant and animal sections were manually produced using razor blades in the early days of light microscope development. It was discovered that in order to study the structure of the object under observation, clean repeatable incisions on the order of 100 m were required, through which light could pass. This allowed samples to be seen in transmission mode using light microscopes. George Adams, Jr. (1750–1795) produced one of the earliest machines for preparing such slices in 1770, which was subsequently modified by Alexander Cummings. The apparatus was hand-operated, with the sample held in a cylinder and portions generated using a hand crank from the top of the sample.
The fact that the initial Microtomes were merely cutting instruments, and the development period of early devices is generally unreported, has contributed to the obscurity surrounding the microtome's origins. The production of very thin and consistent thin samples by microtomy, along with selective labelling of essential cell components or molecules, enabled the imaging of microscopic features around the end of the 1800s. The majority of microtomes now have a knife-block configuration with a replaceable knife, specimen container, and advancing mechanism.
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