The section on Natural History is the most popular among the visitors to the Museum, especially the students. The bigger animals serve as great attraction both for children and grown –ups who marvel at the collection consisting of snakes, two-headed carabao, crocodiles, tamarraw and the old Saint Bernard. Somehow, people still commune more deeply with nature than with manufactured artifacts. Here, scientifically presented, are specimens of Philippine fauna. The section’s highlight is the diorama of Philippine fauna, containing stuffed specimens of animals indigenous to the Philippines. Many of the University’s specimens are either endangered or already extinct, rendering the collection very valuable not only to naturalists and students, but to anyone interested in the natural treasures of this country.
The Philippines has been called the Paradise of Shell Collectors because in our seas live practically every kind of mollusk. The University is in possession of an immense collection covering practically the entire world of shells, gathered through many years of field work and research.
The internees of the UST Campus during the Japanese occupation were given access to the collection to recheck and complete its taxonomic classification. The system followed was very simple yet proved to be very efficient, and it is according to this classification (Gastropoda, Land Shells, Bivalves) that they are displayed in the Museum.
A provision of the Spanish educational law required that before a school coned be granted permission to open a Faculty of Medicine, it should have what was known then as a "Gabinete de Fisica", or a room where the specimens of the "three kingdoms in nature" animal, vegetal, and mineral, that were considered "Materia Medica" be kept ready for observation. The University obtained the permission through a Royal Decree from Charles II dated on November 22, 1682. This means that the "Gabinete de Fisica" or early museum already existed.
For practical reasons the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Pharmacy were not started then, and the permission was to be renewed in 1689,1707,1785 and 1821. At that time, the University was ready to fulfill the conditions. Then at last the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy took place in 1871, in the plan of studies for the Pharmacy degree program, the following were included as subjects: "materia Famaceutica correspondiente a los tres reinos de la Naturalesa" (Pharmaceutical matter as taken from the three kingdoms of Nature) and "Classificacion y reconocimiento de productos de los reinos animal, mineral y vegetal" (Classification and Identification of the products taken from animals, plants and minerals). This plan presupposes the existence and availability of the biological, botanical and mineral collections of specimens.
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