Department of Geography

 

William Joshua (F.L.S.) Microscope Slide Collection

 

This collection was assembled by William Joshua (1828-1898) limnologist and algologist and a fellow of the Linnean Society of London. The collection consists of approximately 300 slides of algae and lichens.

Old collections have more than historical value as they contain many important 'type' specimens. When a scientist describes and gives a scientific name to a plant or animal for the first time, the actual specimen that he was working from is known as the 'type'. The type-specimen is an important reference point regularly consulted by scientists.

A project to preserve this unique collection and make it more accessible for teaching and research purposes has been funded under the CRD research project support funds.

The aims of this project are to (i) facilate archiving of this valuable microscope slide collection (ii) to make the collection more accessible for future research projects in bryology, lichenology and palaeolimnology (iii) to make the collection more accessible for teaching purposes via the WWW and a booklet describing the collection.