Tobacco leaves: objects from the area of commodity science
Rhubarb roots: examples of the diversity of a crude drug
Specimens from the so-called examination collection
Genuine and counterfeit spermaceti
Pharmacognostic Collection
After about 60 years, this unique medical history collection was discovered in an attic by scientists from Göttingen University in 2001 and saved from destruction. The collection comprises more than 8,500 individual items, most of which are still in their original packaging, including boxes and jars containing, among other things, tree bark brought back from South America by Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859). The range of the holdings is impressive. For example, there are several hundred different Chinese barks alone, as well as numerous roots of rhubarb plants from a wide variety of origins. The collection offers a cross-section of the "materia medica" of the 19th century. It is thus probably the oldest and most comprehensive collection of medicinally effective natural substances in Germany. However, the collection also contains various curiosities, such as lizards in lavender flowers.
