Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 94. (Budapest 2002)

Matskási, I.: Bicentenary of the Hungarian Natural History Museum

rica exhibition, a portion of the Departments of Mineralogy and Palaeontology became devastated. And then, as if this ordeal had not been enough, on November 5 an incendiary bomb hit the Department of Zoology and 36,000 birds, 22,000 eggs, 13,000 fish, 40,000 amphibians and reptiles, 500,000 molluscs, 60,000 dragonflies and neuropterans, 200,000 flies, and 100,000 specialist books and offprints were destroyed. In 1959, with the aim of replacing the burnt-out, famous Africa exhibition, ZSIGMOND SZÉCHENYI and his partners went for collecting tours to Africa. In certain parts of the world the museum of the relatively poor and small Hungary enjoyed a certain advantage compared to the much bigger museums of Western European countries. Since we were usually welcome as official guests in such 'exotic socialist countries' as North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, and Mongolia, maybe our materials from North Korea and Mongolia are the richest of their kind worldwide. Beginning from the 1980s more and more countries in Asia, Africa, South America, Australia, and Oceania have become conceivable destinations for collecting trips. And what comes next? Currently, the underground public area adjoining the exhibition hall, with a new exhibition space, and storage spaces sunk in the ground, is in the making. This will be followed by the completion of the former Ludovika Academy reconstruction, and then the time will come for palaeontology, botany, zoology collections, and the library to move in. As a result, these valuable collections will find their way to a safe and modern location. At the same time, the museum, which is operating in segregated sections for the time being, will have a fresh start in terms of operations. THE BRIEF HISTORY AND COLLECTIONS OF DEPARTMENTS Department of Mineralogy and Petrology Even the previous chapters have made mention of the early history of the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology. In lack of subsidies allocated on a regular basis, a whole range of unique donated samples and entire collections, mainly with domestic ones in that number, evidently, involved the major source of enrichment. For example, Palatine JÓZSEF and Count PÉTER SZAPÁRY (1809) as well as Count JÓZSEF BRUNSWICK'S wife donated substantial collections. Thanks to the contribution of the Hungarian Geological Society - that 'entwined' with the museum after the War of Independence in 1848-1849 - and the Royal Hungarian Natural History Society that turned over its collection in 1856, the collection became significantly richer.