The MCZ opened in 1859, the same year that Charles Darwin published the Origin of Species. Though not the largest collection in America, it contains the most diverse and significant holdings of classical (and often beautifully prepared) material from European localities that serve as types for many standard units of the geological time scale, or have become the basis defining monographs on the history and taxonomy of major groups of organisms. Thus, the collection does not only hold historical or antiquarian value, but remains central to current research on the taxonomy and...