Botanizing drum
A botanizing drum or botanizing box is an elongated, cylindrical sheet metal vessel that was usually carried on a strap over the shoulder and was used for the protected transport of plants collected on the way .
background
The name is derived from the outdated word botanize for "collecting plants " (from botany = plant science). The plants placed in the container could be transported without being crushed and protected from drying out, in order to later determine their species name and document them. In the time before color photography was invented, the only way to document certain plants was to draw and create a herbarium , for which well-preserved specimens are needed.
Botanizing drums were popular in the early 19th century, but went out of fashion by the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, botanizing drums were still in use as toys, especially for boys, which is exemplified by the children's books Else Urys . More modern alternatives are freezer bags and transparent sleeves, in which no parts of the plant can get lost and what has already been collected can be seen at first glance.
References
supporting documents
- Lexicon of Biology at Spektrum.de , accessed October 2, 2015.
Web links
- Bernhard Wördehoff: That was it once: drum on a belt , Zeit Online from February 9, 1990.