Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 100. (Budapest 2008)

Korsós, Z.: History of the Herpetological Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum

Unfortunately, no one could even think about increasing the number of researchers. The museum constantly struggled and still struggles with insufficient employees, but many "outsider" dissertations and papers from other fields of zoology were prepared with the support of the Herpetological Collection and DELY. Still during the time of FEJÉRVÁRY in the Herpetological Collection, JÁNOS SZUNYOGHY (1908-1969) wrote his doctoral dissertation (1932) about the study of the skeletons of snakes - which was beautifully illustrated (Fig. 43) and which described the skull and the other bones of snakes even including some fossilised remains. SZUNYOGHY later became the leader of the Mammal Collection and the deputy head of the Department of Zoology, but he kept his herpetological interests (SZUNYOGHY 1954). He was on very good terms with DELY and he also collected reptiles for the Herpetological Collection, for example during his famous African journey in 1965-66 (Fig. 44, SZUNYOGHY 1968). ISTVÁN SZABÓ (1913-2000) (Fig. 45) was more of a herpetologist than SZUNYOGHY. Although he never got a university degree in zoology, he studied and popularised reptiles and amphibians with great passion. He was a hussar officer in the pre-war army, and then a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union until he came home in 1947. After that, he worked in banks and similar establishments in Budapest. At first he only visited the museum as an employee of these firms, but soon, with the professional help of BOROS, DELY, and FEJÉRVÁRYNÉ, he started regular research (Figs 46-47). Later he became employed in the Museum of Agriculture, Budapest, and from there, he managed to switch - as he told, "by mere luck" - to the Department of Zoology, HNHM (MATSKÁSI 1993). His best herpetological papers discussed the amphibians and reptiles of the Pilis and the Visegrád Mts, the Börzsöny and the Bakony Mts, from where he reported many new observations and data. He was the first to state that conservation of Hungary's herpetofauna needs attention. He finally became the founder of the Parasitological Collection in the Department of Zoology, as he worked with external parasites, mainly fleas (Siphonaptera) of various vertebrates. PÁL AGÓCSY (1922-1997) was the employee of the Department of Zoology from 1957 until 1983. He was a museologist from 1960. His task was to rebuild the molluscan collection, which was also destroyed in 1956. He wrote many educational papers about molluscs (VARGA et al. 2003). His significant herpetological discovery was that he found the Adder in Tiszahát, eastern Hungary (AGÓCSY 1958), which formerly was only recorded from the Transdanubian counties Somogy and Zala. After his retirement in 1983, he was the leader of the Youth Nature Club in the Educational Department of the HNHM. MIKLÓS JANISCH (1922-2002) and MIKLÓS MARIÁN (1914- ) maintained a good professional - almost friendship-like - relationship with DELY, and were regular visitors to the Herpetological Collection. JANISCH - Hungary's one and only official "governmental expert on venomous snakes" and a record-holding snipe hunter - was famous for his collecting trips and his abilities in the field, his knowledge about reptile species and their habitats (Fig. 46). Many of the collections' alcoholic bottles were "loaded" with his material (KORSÓS 2002b, VARGA 2003). He worked out the Meadow viper's (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis) Hungarian distribution data with DELY (DELY & JANISCH 1959). DELY published a similar paper about the distribution of the Adder ( Vipera berus) with MARIÁN (DELY & MARIÁN 1960). MARIÁN - the founder of natural historical museology in county Somogy (ÁBRAHÁM et al. 1998) - is the most significant "countryside" herpetologist even today.