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Introduction

One element of the ‘Small Worlds’ project is a catalogue of the microscopical specimens in the Museum’s collection. The catalogue, accompanied by 1955 images, is accessible via this internet database. The images can be explored via the ‘image gallery’ link in the navigation box on the right. Once on the Image Gallery page it is possible to browse by Specimen Type using a simple classification only slightly elaborated beyond the familiar scheme of animal, vegetable and mineral. Specimen Type is the default option for sorting the images. A more random presentation is available by choosing Image Filename as the sort criterion. Use ‘search catalogue’ for text-based queries of the underlying database. Want to find whether we have your favourite protozoa in the collection? This is the place to look. Whenever you are presented with a thumbnail image simply click to see a larger version, and follow the links under the images to retrieve catalogue information about the specimen and its parent containers.

There are a total of 10084 records in the database catalogue, structured in the following hierarchy:

A selection of five interesting specimens from the database are shown below:

ImageDescriptionCatalogue
62954_3168-3An image from the Penard Collection showing diatoms and other protozoa consuming each other.specimen 3168
62954_2644-1A slide showing an etched letter from one scientist to another discussing the realisation of micro-writing.specimen 2644
77664_121-2A slide sectioned through shell in a zebra-like pattern.specimen 121
66734_878-3A slide with 100 diatoms arranged in rows.specimen 878
62954_2337-3A slide of fossilised plant matter showing crystal veins crossing the fossilised stems.specimen 2337