The Muse The quarterly newsletter of the Slater Memorial Museum
The Herbarium: Science and Art by Vivian F. Zoë Withered and dry, bleached of color, smell and turgor, and mounted on a card of brittle paper with cracked edges, the herbarium is both mystifying and compelling. In 2013, Sally McGee D’Aquila donated a significant herbarium to the museum. It is a collection of approximately 50 dried plant specimens mounted in book form. The book includes a lock of hair on the inside front cover and a poem on page 12 signed “Mary Lathrop, Norwich City, Oct. 18, 1889.” Throughout this remarkable survivor of 19th century Norwich there are notes and writings. Before giving the collection to the museum, the donor had it professionally and housed in a drop spine box. Jean Becker also recently donated herbarium mounts to Slater. The specimens were collected by NFA faculty, including headmaster William Hutchison, in the 1880s. What is an herbarium? The term herbarium refers to a collection of dried specimens, often classified and sometimes made available for reference or other scientific study. Taxonomy; phyla, species and families are often included in Latin on labels affixed to the mounts. Location where collected and by whom are also considered important. Originally an herbarium was a book about medicinal plants and may have been used as a resource for mothers eager to keep their families healthy. (Continued on page 3)
Echiun Vulgare (Blue Weed) Herbarium Mount, speciment collected by NFA faculty ca. 1880, gift of Jean Becker.
Summer, 2016