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The Dermestarium
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Cutaway view of the "Old Met Lab" from 1877
(Feldman, p.45). The construction materials |
Dermestid
Colony
The Museum has a separate facility to house its dermestid beetle
colony, two blocks away from collections storage. A former federal
magnetic observatory (see History below), the space is ideal
for housing dermestids. Four to six large stainless steel tanks
house dermestids for cleaning osteological material. A few days
or weeks after being placed in the tanks, the larvae of these beetles
render a skeleton so clean that only minor preparation is needed
before the specimen can be cataloged into the Museum's research
collections. Constant vigilance is necessary to maintain the proper
temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and food availability for the
beetles to work at peak capacity. The dermestarium is not open for
public tours or use.
History
In 1868, John E. Davies was appointed as an Instructor of Agronomy
and Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Several of his
publications contributed to the annals of the (now defunct) U.S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey. Inspired by Davies' research and enthusiasm,
the federal agency approached the University regents with a request
to build a magnetic observatory on campus with Davies as its supervisor.
In 1877 the observatory was constructed with masonry and hydraulic
cement to make it waterproof. No iron, which might affect magnetic
equipment, was used in the construction, and a 3-foot dead air space
with an outer wall was created to maintain a constant temperature.
Federally-supplied equipment was installed and experiments were
up and running by 1878. As such, it was the first building
constructed on the University campus for a federal science project.
The stated scientific purpose of the observatory (and others like
it in Greenwich, Paris, and Toronto) was to provide "A continuous
and reliable record of the variations n the direction and intensity
of the earth's magnetic force, by means of photographic self registration."
In 1888 the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey was dismantled by an
act of Congress and the lab was emptied of equipment.
After termination of the scientific experiments for which it was
designed the "Old Met Lab", as it was referred to, served a variety
of purposes on campus. These include a laboratory for testing methods
of curing cheeses, a storage shed for oils, and a potato cellar.
The facility is of historical significance to the professional chemistry
fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma because its first new members, Brothers
Lee and Wheelwright, were initiated here in April of 1903. The cool,
secretive, and echo-ey atmosphere of the Lab gave rise to fraternity
lore that persists to the present day. One of the founding Brothers
involved in obtaining permission from the Biology Department to
use the Lab for the initiation rites, J. H. Mathews, later became
Chair of the U.W. Chemistry Department.
In 1950 the university renovated the Old Met Lab for use by the
Department of Zoology, and it was consequently turned over to the
Zoological Museum for the purpose of housing its dermestid colony,
for which is it still used today.
Sources:
Feldman, Jim. The Buildings of the University of
Wisconsin. University Archives Memorial Library: Madison. 1997.
pp.45-46, 120, 490.
Curti, Merle E. and Vernon Carstensen. The University
of Wisconsin: A History. 1848-1925. Volume 1.
University of Wisconsin Press: Madison. 1949. p.355.
Alpha Chi Sigma National Chemistry Fraternity,
Alpha chapter website, accessed 2 July 2002.
D. Mitch Levings, Grand Historian, Alpha Chi Sigma
Fraternity. Personal correspondence via email, July 2002.
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