A vacuum pump is a device for removing gases and generating vacuum in a closed vessel. The presented pump is a manual, single-piston device used for conducting experiments in educational institutions. The device is set on a wooden base, to which a piston with a wooden handle is attached. The piston moves in a cylinder ending in two cut-off valves below a plate. After a glass dome is put on the plate, air is sucked off from under the dome by moving the piston. The company which produced the presented model, Wytwórnia i Skład Pomocy Naukowych F.M. Złotnicki, was established in Lviv in 1893. It continued operation until 1939, when it was nationalised by the Soviet government. The factory manufactured and marketed teaching equipment and aids, such as zoological specimens, anatomy and botany models, globes, aquariums, microscopes, geographic and historical maps for physics, chemistry, geography and biology classrooms in schools. The factory had their own mechanics and taxidermy workshops.

References:
H. Wiórkiewicz, Kolekcja Leopolis Muzeum Niepodległości w Warszawie 1992 – 2006, „Niepodległość i Pamięć” 2006, issue 13/3 (24), pp. 311-346, https://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Niepodleglosc_i_Pamiec/Niepodleglosc_i_Pamiec-r2006-t13-n3_(24)/Niepodleglosc_i_Pamiec-r2006-t13-n3_(24)-s311-346/Niepodleglosc_i_Pamiec-r2006-t13-n3_(24)-s311-346.pdf, accessed: 2.06.2021.