Tatra Museum in Zakopane
Natural science items have been gathered throughout the operation of the
Museum. The botany collection, embracing herbaries and other materials mostly
from the area of the Tatra Mts and the region at its foot, includes c. 10 120
items. Of the lower plants, the Museum has a small collection of fungi
(altogether 114 specimens). The collection of Tatra lichens, created in
1923-1937, includes about 140 species. The liverworst are represented by 140
specimens. The collection of moss and vascular plants is more representative of
the Tatra flora, and hence has a considerable scientific value. Here mention is
due to Tytus Cha¸ubiÄski's Tatra moss collection originating in 1876-1884. A
herbary donated to the Museum by the Physiographic Commission of the Academy of
Science and Letters in Cracow has a historic value. It consists of nine albums
embracing 900 species of vascular plants collected in the Tatra Mts in
1869-1887.
The geological collection includes 2 081 speciments of typical rocks, minerals
and fossils of the entire area of the Tatra Mts and the region of its foot. The
first geological collection of 320 items was donated by T. Cha¸ubiÄski in
1873-1887. It embraces a set of 96 macrofauna, or large fossils, items. The
geological and zoological sets also include bones and other animal remains
found in the Tatra Mts and the region of Podhale.
The geological collection is a regional one, covering the area of the Tatra and
Pieniny Mts and the valley of Orawa and Nowy Targ. It includes c. 58 100
exibits. Its highlights are a collection of birds and a set of almost 16 000
butterflies of the regions of the Tatra Mts and the area at their foot. Also
interesting is a set of Tatra dragonflies. Other sets are quite frequently
revised by experts and often act as the basis for the discovery of species new
to the Tatra Mts and the piedmont area, or verification of the literature
data.
Zbigniew £adygin ysladyg@cyf-kr.edu.pl