Objects, use and history
Developmental series of various animals, including the crayfish, dragonfly, and pond frog.
Image: Manuela Schmidt
Teaching involving objects is a matter of course in the life sciences. While "objects" can sometimes be models, they are far more frequently dead or living organisms. In zoological education, they play an integral role at every stage—from introductory practical courses in the first semester to advanced classes for teacher training, Bachelor’s, and Master’s programs. Through them, we convey not only the anatomy, morphology, and lifestyles of animals but also respect for life, regardless of its level of organization or complexity.
The use of objects in lectures has changed over the decades. Images and digital media in general have taken the place once occupied—decades ago—by large wall charts, elaborately crafted teaching models, and fluid or dry specimens displayed on the lecture hall podium. What became of these objects? They are fascinating, curious, and irreplaceable artifacts of the history of biological education—items that deserve to be seen and experienced in the future as well.
The Zoological Teaching Collection houses approximately 1,500 macroscopic specimens, ranging from models made of wax, plaster, and papier-mâché as well as skulls, skeletons, taxidermy mounts, and dioramas to fluid-preserved specimens illustrating organs and tissues. More than 200 wall charts have also been preserved and are currently in the care of the Biology Education Collection. In return, many taxidermy mounts and fluid-preserved specimens—including valuable Spalteholz preparations—were transferred from the Biology Education Collection. Indeed, the Biology Education Collection, the Zoological Teaching Collection, and the collections of the Phyletic Museum share a long history characterized by frequent exchanges (see also Markert 2015).
Among the oldest specimens is this so-called "exploded skull" of a domestic cat. To create it, mustard seeds are inserted through the foramen magnum, and the opening is sealed. When placed in water, the swelling seeds force the bones apart; they are then reassembled in their correct anatomical positions. In this instance, the tooth roots have also been exposed.
Ernst Haeckel had already examined his students on ganoid fish (see Uschmann 1959); this historic mounted specimen of a gar (Lepisosteus sp.) may well have been used for demonstration purposes on that occasion.
Image: Manuela SchmidtThe inception of the zoological collection in Jena at the end of the 18th century also marked the beginning of the teaching collection, as the objects in the "Zoological Cabinet"—which was open to the public at the City Palace—were simultaneously intended for university instruction. Native animal species were to be particularly well represented: stuffed birds and mammals, as well as amphibians, reptiles, and fish preserved in spirits. Shells, insects, and worms were also added to the collection.
Ernst Haeckel, who directed the Grand Ducal Zoological Museum which had evolved from the earlier cabinet, reorganized the collection as part of his teaching activities. In his 1865/1866 annual report to the Weimar State Ministry (marking the founding of the Zoological Institute), he outlined the new mission of scientific zoology: to achieve, through anatomical and physiological study, a deeper understanding of the overall organizational relationships—the so-called "body plan"—of animals. The goal was no longer merely to present students with as many different individual species as possible, but rather "to provide them with an organized overview of all the essential manifestations of animal life by displaying and highlighting representative forms" (from Uschmann, 1959). Here, we encounter not only the first instance of the idea for a Phyletic Museum (founded in 1907) but also the concept of the zoology lecture ("Special Zoology") for first-semester biology students—a course still taught today by the incumbent director of the Phyletic Museum.
Historical catalogs of the teaching collection (left: from Ludwig Plate’s tenure; right: acquisitions from 1938 to 1944). Also, a historical display case featuring native species of Drosophila fruit flies.
Image: Manuela SchmidtUnder Haeckel’s successor, Ludwig Plate, the zoological collection was likely separated for the first time into a teaching collection and a collection for museum exhibitions. The institute’s extension building now housed the Large Lecture Hall and preparation rooms for storing the collection. Thanks to the rediscovery of Plate’s historical inventory and the list of acquisitions made during Jürgen Harms’s directorship, it is now possible to date certain objects more precisely. This applies in particular to the human skeleton—that of a young woman—acquired in 1938 (see Grund 2015).