Museum collections

Columbia). They have been killed recently or have been obtained from museum collections (Table 4.1). The latter may be as much as several decades old. Herbivorous species have been sampled. Bears have been treated separately from other carnivores due to their omnivorous rather than strictly... 

Third, continued periodic monitoring of fishery and wildlife resources is important, especially in areas with potential for reservoir development, in light of the hypothesis that increased flooding increases the availability of mercury to biota. The use of museum collections for mercury analysis is strongly recommended for monitoring purposes. For example, the Environmental Specimen Bank at the Swedish Museum of Natural History constitutes a base for ecotoxicological research and for spatial and trend monitoring of mercury and other contaminants in Swedish fauna (Odsjo et al. 1997). 

Green LR, Thickett D, (1991) Modern metals in museum collections, Saving the 20th century the conservation of modem materials. Proceedings of a Conference Symposyum 91, Ottawa, Canadian Conservation Institute, 261-272. 

Iron meteorites offer the unique opportunity to examine metallic cores from deep within differentiated bodies. Most of these samples were exposed and dislodged when asteroids collided and fragmented. Although irons constitute only about 6% of meteorite falls, they are well represented in museum collections. Most iron meteorites show wide variations in siderophile-element abundances, which can be explained by processes like fractional crystallization in cores that mimic those in achondrites. However, some show perplexing chemical trends that may be inconsistent with their formation as asteroid cores. 

Materials from Distant Areas. Attempts were made to obtain ceramic materials from major areas where trade to Hesi could have originated. Much of the material for this purpose was borrowed from museum collections. From the Mesopotamian area 39 samples were analyzed. The material was mostly sherds, but there were also two bricks and six cuneiform clay tablets. The material ranged from third millenium B.C. to Islamic. From Iran, nine samples were obtained from sherds from several different areas. The sampling from Syria and Turkey was limited to 12 sherds from the Mersin-Tarsus area and 15 from Syria from the two regions of Aleppo and Hama. 

The obsidian excavated from Trinidad de Nosotros demonstrates that obsidian trade during the Postclassic period was as complex as other periods. And, inland trade, as seen, through evidence of a trans-shipment port, was different than coastal trade. In addition to the cultural aspect of this study, we have demonstrated that it is possible to successfully use a field-portable XRF to correlate obsidian artifacts to their sources. Not only were sources identified, but the process was rapid (4-6 minutes per sample), cost-effective, and as accurate and precise as more traditional methods of analysis. Above all, and perhaps most importantly, when working with artifacts from museum collections and foreign countries, the process was non-destructive to the artifacts. 

Linen textiles made from flax fibers have been known and used by mankind since antiquity (1 ). Flax has been used in many textile constructions including fine linen fabrics, laces, embroideries, and bridal fashions, and many historic linen textiles have become part of permanent museum collections. Older linen fabrics and laces are prized for their natural creamy color and luster and often have been recycled and reused. However, little is known about natural aging of linen. Most aging studies for cellulosics such as linen have involved accelerated heat-induced aging. 

Possessing Nature Museums, Collecting, and Scientific Culture in Early... 

At room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure, all metals are solids except mercury, which is a liquid. Over 60% of the known elements are classified as metals, but of those only about 40 are of any economic importance. From this group, only a small number have been selected for discussion here. These are the metallic elements found most often in museum collections as manufactured items. Their properties are summarized in Table 2.7. 

Silver is another native metal found in museum collections in a variety of forms. Chemically, silver differs gready from gold in that it is highly reactive. Silver occurs in its native state, but is more stable in compounds with other elements. The black tarnish so common on silver items is silver sulfide. Silver objects that have been buried for any length of time may be completely altered, particularly if water is present. When the alteration that begins as tarnish is complete, and all native silver has been combined with other elements, a worked piece will usually lose its integrity and disintegrate. If silver is subjected to moisture in the presence of the element chlorine, as it would in seawater or brackish water, horn silver or silver chloride may develop. 

Evaporites that form around the margins of lakes and oceans are usually made up of mixtures of soluble salts (halides) and sulfate minerals. These deposits are transitory, since they are soluble in water, and are rarely encountered in museum collections except as mineral specimens. 

Plants and plant products appear in museum collections in many forms. Environmental and storage conditions that are ideal for a botanical specimen are generally good for products made from parts of the same plant. Composite objects, however, must be considered for all the different materials they contain, and an environmental compromise reached that will be the best for the thing as a whole. Sometimes the best treatment for a composite object is to take it apart so that the different materials can be stored separately. 

In museum collections, most invertebrates will be encountered as natural history specimens, which are divided into dry and wet-preserved. Those animals having a shell or tough exoskeleton, like starfish, shelled mollusks, and lobsters, may be dried after death. The tissue may be removed, but it is often left inside the shell or carapace to shrivel and dry. Wet-preserved specimens are usually fixed in a solution of formalin or some other preservative to prevent the tissues from deteriorating quickly after death. After a brief period, the specimen is usually removed from the toxic fixing solution, rinsed, and placed in a storage solution of 70% ethanol (alcohol) mixed with water. 

Feathers in museum collections are often part of composite objects, since few items are ever made of nothing but feathers. Hats, hair ornaments, and fans are common feathered objects (Figure 6.10). Less common are baskets with feather decoration, like those of the Pomo Indians of Northern California, and capes and headdresses covered with a dense layer of feathers, like those created by the native Hawaiians. Many cultures used feathers in religious or spiritual objects, in trophies of the hunt, and in symbols of authority or power. These may take the form of clothing, personal decoration, or ceremonial objects. 

The feces or droppings of many animals have been utilized in a variety of ways for thousands of years. While manure rarely appears in museum collections, it should still be considered as a potential element in certain collections. Dried manure may be a normal component of natural history collections. And animal droppings have been occasionally utilized as a medium in modem art. Coprolites, which are fossilized droppings, are trace fossils and may be found in most paleontological collections. 

Animals and animal products appear in museum collections in many forms. Natural history collections contain the widest variety, since their purpose is to document the natural world. 

Animal group Secondary group Type of specimens in natural history collections Derived materials found in museum collections... 

Natural materials can be found in many forms in museum collections. The items in this photograph include wool, cotton, wood, leather, dried plant materials, paints, and metal alloys. Rug/carpet kurdish mid-twentieth century wool on cotton, naturalpigments/dye. Basket Hopi piki-bread tray, wicker, early twentieth century. Kachina c. 1970 cottonwood root with water-based (poster) paint, fabric, wool, feathers, yarn, fur ruff, unsigned (cloth "cape is also painted). Books calfskin, marbled paper, gold. Baseball leather, linen cord, pen ink. Glove leather, metal (grommets). Gun wood, metal (brass, steel). 

Museum collections are a tremendous and still largely underutilized resource for molecular systematic studies. The large research collections in the world contain huge amounts of material amenable to molecular analysis that may be otherwise unavailable due to extinction or collection difficulties. This can be especially acute in higher level studies of geographically diverse taxa. Collections can make possible, in time and resources, studies for which it would take years to gather material. 

The validity of any comparative study is dependent on the reliability of the identification of the samples in the study. Not all researchers are experts in the field of identification of samples, nor do all researchers have quick and ready access to expert systemetists who can accomplish the task of identification. The importance of verification of sample identity for comparative studies is vital. We describe several methods by which researchers can obtain and identify samples from the wild, and we suggest methods by which voucher samples can be obtained for future reference to these collected samples. We outline alternatives to collection of samples from the wild, such as purchase from stock centers and biological supply companies. Museum collections can also be extremely helpful in obtaining complete organismal samples for comparative studies. 

Museum collections represent the single largest source of tissues readily available to the investigator. Such collections are of particular value because of provenance data and habitat information on the specimens. In addition, many of the collections include large series representing single localities. 

Exploratory experiments in thawing and drying randomly selected materials from the museums collection were conducted. Frozen flood-damaged books and file materials that the librarians knew could be discarded or replaced were chosen for the initial experiments. The dielectric grid current was kept constant as the plate current or electrode separation space was varied according to the size of the frozen library materials and an estimate of the water they contained. 

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