Evidence for a remarkable survival of invertebrates from the teaching collection of William MacGillivray (1796–1852), Marischal College, Aberdeen

Abstract

A box of invertebrates, mainly insects, some of which have labels dated between 1838 and 1841, was acquired by the author at a public auction in 2022. The box and the style of preservation is consistent with a collection assembled in the late 1830s. It is postulated that this small collection once formed part of the museum assembled by William MacGillivray at Marischal College, Aberdeen, Scotland, following his appointment as Regius Professor of Civil and Natural History in 1841.