Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 91. (Budapest 1999)

Kázmér, M. ; Papp, G.: Minerals from the Carpathians in an eighteenth-century British collection

believing them as sports of nature, formed within the rocks by some obscure process. At the same time the theory claimed that the distribution of rocks and their fossil contents in successive beds or strata was a direct result of the universal deluge. This can be considered a dubious merit today, but we ought to remember, that diluvialists had the greatest role in making the organic origin of fossils accepted by naturalists (EYLES 1965, 1976,RUDWICK 1985, p. 88). In succeeding years WOODWARD gathered together, at Gresham College, a very large collection of fossils, minerals and other "curiosities", which he described carefully, noting information such as locality, mode of occurrence and the collector's name. WOODWARD'S passion as a collector resulted in the appearance of further two books from his pen. The first, titled Fossils of all Kinds, Digested into a Method (1728) is essentially a textbook of mineralogy, with a systematic classification of minerals, and an indication of methods to be used in identifying them. The other book, published posthumously in 1729 bears the title An Attempt Towards a Natural History of the Fossils of England, The term "fossil" includes both minerals and remains of organisms. The book is an accurate catalogue of his collection, listing both English and foreign specimens. WOODWARD'S classification involved a breakdown into six classes, Earths, Stones, Salts, Bitumens, Minerals, and Metals. This classification had generally been adopted with some modifications in the contemporary science from AviCENNA's era till WERNER (KOBELL 1864, LAUDAN 1987). For the safekeeping of his collection and to promote further studies in his fields of interest, he bequeathed his fortune to the University of Cambridge to establish a Woodwardian Chair of Geology. The Chair was the first in Britain - and possibly in the world - specializing in this branch of science. It still exists today, and one of the duties of the Woodwardian Professor is "to shew the said Fossils gratis to all such curious and intelligent persons as shall desire a view of them for their Information and Instruction" (EYLES 1965, PORTER 1979). THE COLLECTION WOODWARD'S collection - although rearranged - still exists today, preserved in its original walnut cabinets (PRICE 1989). As there are only WOODWARD'S specimens in the drawers, the collection is actually a fossil itself: it displays easily readable information about the thinking of JOHN WOODWARD, one of the foremost naturalists of his age. Unraveling the theoretical and cultural background of his collecting, describing it in modern terms, and relating it to contemporary trends of thought will be the subject of another paper; here we discuss that part of the vast collection only, which relates to the Carpathian region. While there were many local collectors and collections mentioned in contemporary literature (e.g. the Imperial Collection in Vienna), the material of these has been mostly lost, or - if preserved - dissolved within subsequent collections, and extensive studies are needed to identify them. The unique value of the Woodwardian Collection - although containing a relatively minor amount of specimens from the Carpathians only - is that it