Boros István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 8. (Budapest 1957)

Boros, I.: The tragedy of the Hungarian Natural History Museum

ralogical Department. This consisted of 1295 meteorite pieces from 484 localities, reviewed in a book published by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (L. Tok od y—M. Dudich: Meteorite-Collections in Hungary, 1951). The losses of our rock collections are almost of the same rate. The rock series containing cubically cut and variously worked (on all six faces) rock specimens was a very special treasure ; the same as the collection of cut rock tablets, a marble collection from Italy, and the ore deposit collection too. All these were completely annihilated. The fire destroyed all instruments of our Mineralogical Department, from the polarizing microscopes down to the mine and oil compasses. The special library of the Department was al o wholly burnt out ; about 5 000 books with many uniques, 90 000 irreplaceable reprints, many complete periodical sets now no more to be acquired, of about 20 000 volumes. The detailed enumeration of our losses is absolutely impossible, since aslo the inventory books and the catalogue — index cards were also burnt. The aboves are, however, more than enough to demonstrate the rate of the overall and stupefying destruction. The Paleontological Department The Paleontological Department, adjacent to the Mineralogical Dept., in the main Museum buildung on the Museum Boulevard, fell also victim to the fire. Its rich home and abroad material represented an invaluable scientific asset not only as regards museum purposes but also for the researches of the Hungarian Geological Institution and for University instruction. The destroyed home material contained very many type specimens published in the Annals of our Museum, in the periodical of the Geological Institution, its Annals, and in numerous foreign publications ; further, it included the stratigraphie documentation of several, now wholly exhausted, built-in, or no more accessible, localities. Its whole scientific and comparative material comprised 140 000 inventoried items. Of these, the flames destroyed 110 500 items, the loss is therefore 80 per cent. 364 boxes of inventoried objects and 28 cabinets of the best samples were annihilated. With regard to subject matter, the damages are the greatest in th invertebrate comparative material, the foreign parts of which were wholly destroyed. Concerning vertebrate material, the loss,, though relatively smaller as concerns quantity, is still very grave, since the home and foreign large vertebrate fossils were completely destructed. Of the invertebrate comparative material, the whole Cambrian material from Czechoslovakia, Sweden and Australia was annihilated ; further, many type specimens figured by Barrande ; the very rich Silurian material originating from almost every part of Europe, but represented especially by Czechoslovakian and English finds. Of the Devonian, many valuable English and German finds ; of the Carboniferous, manily German and Belgian material ; of the Permian, also chiefly German finds were pulverised. A total of 32 boxes, containing Paleozoic material. 105 boxes of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, mainly German, Austrian French, Swiss, English, Eastern Indian, New Zealandian and Chinese materials were completely destroyed. Besides of material from other European areas, then from North America, East India, China and the Soviet Union, the rich and beautifully conserved finds of the Solenhofen and Holzmaden shales represented