Old Spirit House
Behind the doors of the old Spirit House.
Have you ever thought about how the millions of specimens in a museum are looked after?
Female museum staff member at work in the spirit house, circa 1950s. She is holding a snake and is surrounded by shelves filled with wet specimen jars.
Image: -
© Australian Museum
© Australian Museum
We recently came across this photograph in the archives which shows us how some of the herpetological specimens were housed and ordered in the 1950's.
The photograph was published with the caption:
"SPIRIT HOUSE has 50,000 bottles containing half a million specimens. They are used for reference. Some are seventy years old. By renewing spirit every few years they will keep indefinitely. Card index system makes them quickly accessible. Museum assistant examines python for identification and cataloging. Specimens are vital to work of museum in providing ready means of comparison and identification".
