Boros István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 8. (Budapest 1957)
Boros, I.: The tragedy of the Hungarian Natural History Museum
v a I d s z k y, S. Petényi, S. M o c s á r y, 0. Herman, G y. É h i k, I. L o k s a, M. R o t a r i d e s, B. H an kó, F. Mihályi, A. FejérV á r y, E. D u d i c h, L. B e r i n k e y. The 9 400 foreign fishes originated from the collectings of J. Xání us (North Amderica, Indonesia and the Far East), L. Bíró (New Guinea), P. T i t i u s (the Mediterranean), G y. Leidenfrost (the Mediterranean), T. D u k a (India), L. Doleschall (Java), E. Csiki (Albania). N. H o m o n n a y (the Mediterranean), S. Pongrácz (Poland). In the foreign material, 23, now synonymized types from the collectings of J. Xántus and described by J. K á r o 1 i were lost, the same as the 6 valid types of new species and subspecies from the Near East, collected by B. Hankó. The destruction of 150 specimens of large marine fishes, skin preparations for our exhibitions, is also a lamentable loss. The departmental library, about 1 400 now largely inacquirable books, periodicals and reprints, was also demolished. As I have mentioned above, the Herpetological Collection was also completely destroyed. About 15—20 000 home preparations were demolished, originating from various areas of the Carpathians' Basin, the collectings mainly of I. Bolkay, E. D u d i c h, G y. É h i k, G. and A. Fejérvár y, L. M é h e 1 y, O. G e d u 1 y, S. Pongrácz, M. V a s v á r y and O. D e ly In one word, the whole home material was destroyed, together with the almost complete herpetofauna of the adjacent territories. An extremely great less is the 18—20 000 foreign amphibian and reptile material which found its way into the Museum by the collectings of G y. A 1m á s y in Turkestan, L. Bíró in New Guinea, I. Bolkay in Yugoslavia, E. Csiki in Albania and Siberia, T. Duka in East India, G. and A. F ej é r v á r y in Switzerland and Malta, K. Kittenberg er in Africa, G y. Madarász in Ceylon, Ö. Kovács in Abyssinia, A. Vezényi in Brasil, J. Xántus in North America and Southeastern Asia. I have especially to mention the Alpine Newt material sent to us for working out from various collections from abroad, in which about 300 alpine newts of the Berlin Museum and some 150specimensof the University of Bucarest were annihilated. In the material, conserved mostly in about 16—18 000 glasses of various sizes, some 20—25 valid types were burnt, among them the unique specimen of a giant snake (Liasis maximus), caught by L. Bíró and described by Werner (Ann. Mus. Nat. Hung. 1936, XXX. p. 105). A very serious loss is the destruction of the collection of beautiful snake specimens from South America, forwarded to our Museum by the Hungarian D. Klobusitzky from the Institute of Butantan ; and also the 4 New Zealand lizards (Sphaenodon punctatus ), presented to us by F. Werne r. A very valuable part of our herpetological material was the bone collection assembled from the skeletal portions of mainly home and foreign species, counting about 3,500—4,000 pieces, which contained, among others, skull series of newts (Triturus alpestris) from the Carpathian Basin and adjacent areas, and also the bone material of about lo fossil types described by Bolkay and Fejérváry. The dry preparation and skin collection, representing mainly tropical material of about 150—200 pieces, will also be replaced but by the greatest difficulties. The majority of this material was acquired by presents. Also irretrievable is a small collection of 80—100 items of frog limbs in glycerine, which was the basis of a major paper of Fejérváry, „Die phyletische Bedeutung der prähallux und vergleichend-osteologische Notizen über den Aunren-tarsus."
