This is a home made episcope made by M. T. Woodhouse, these were optical devices for projecting opaque images onto a screen. It consisted of a very bright light which illuminated the object from the side, the image was reflected off mirrors and projected upside down through the lens. The projected objects could be flat like postcards, photographs or three dimensional like coins, leaf specimens. Care had to be taken that the intense light and heat did not damage the object.