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

is readily available for studies of modern standards. The Woodwardian Collection can be considered as the oldest mineral collection from the Carpathian region. While most of his material (four of the five cabinets) comes from Britain and was collected by himself, the foreign material is also impressive. It came from most countries of Europe, from North America and from Asia. It contains minerals in the modern sense, rocks, fossils, and very few artefacts (Neolithic axes and pieces of copper precipitated on iron). Many of the specimens lack the aesthetical character needed for a museum exhibit today, since the collection was amassed strictly for scientific purposes and not as a curiosity chamber, unlike its contemporaries (e.g. SLOANE's collection). The cabinets, hiding drawers behind compact doors, closed by intricate locks suggest, that the collection served no entertainment; although we know, that WOODWARD showed it to many of his visitors (LEVINE 1991). The catalogue records 7,364 entries for 9,377 specimens in the collection (PRICE 1989). Foreign specimens count 1574. Altogether 68 entries describe specimens derived from the Carpathians and from the Pannonian Basin (see Appendix 1). Four other entries contain remarks related to Carpathian minerals (see in the chapter on WEBER). Twelve collectors, both foreign travellers and residents in the region are identified as senders of the Carpathian material. The catalogue consists of twelve subsections (PRICE 1989, his Appendix 1), grouping "native fossils", i.e. rocks and minerals, and "extraneous fossils", i.e. which were deposited in the layers by the Deluge - these are the remnants of animals and plants. British and foreign fossils are listed in different subsections. As obviously the first cataloguing was finished in the late 1710s, subsequent additions were grouped in additional subsections, and all sections now total twelve. Each subsection is subdivided to show WOODWARD'S detailed classification system. The classes are named in Latin and English. Entries are numbered by Greek letters and Arabic numerals. Each entry contains a descriptive name of the specimen, often in Latin. Name of the collector and the locality where it was found is given very precisely. There are remarks on the location, on the outer characters of the specimen, on its uses, and comparisons with similar specimens from other localities. An opinion of a certain Mr. WEBER, a native of Hungary, is added to the description of several specimens. THE COLLECTORS Most entries in WOODWARD'S (1729) catalogue denote the person, from whom he has got the specimen. They are travellers, local collectors or collectors in other lands, who sent foreign material for exchange. For a few specimens it is possible to recognize the way it was sent from the original collectors through subsequent exchanges to its final resting place in WOODWARD'S collection. BREYNIUS BREYN, JOHANN PHILIPP (1680 Danzig, Prussia - 1764 Danzig, Prussia) was a wellknown doctor and naturalist in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland). He studied medicine in