NIGER STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, MINNA

SCHOOL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE

ASSIGNMENT ON
COURSE CODE: ISC 214
BY
GROUP B
S/N NAMES MATRIC NO
1. UMAR MOHAMMED SE/ISC/22/0024
2. GIFT TANKO SE/ISC/22/0025
3. MARYAM ABDULRAHMAN SE/ISC/22/0022
4. MUHAMMAD SADIYA SANI SE/ISC/22/0019
5. YOHANNA JESSICAH SE/ISC/22/0014
6. DAVID FLORENCE SE/ISC/22/0015
7. IBRAHIM HABIBU SE/ISC/22/0016
8. ABDULHAFIZU SULEIMAN SE/ISC/22/0017
9. SOLOMON DEBORAH SE/ISC/22/0018
10. ALHASSAN FATIMA JIPAN SE/ISC/22/0020
11. MUHAMMAD MUHAMMAD SE/ISC/22/0021
12. MANU A. AMINU SE/ISC/22/0023
13. IBRAHIM HARUNA SE/ISC/22/0026
14. BAHAGO MIRACLE SE/ISC/22/00227
QUESTION
PREPARATION OF SKELETON AND HERBARIUM

JANUARY, 2024
INTRODUCTION

herbarium (Latin: hortus siccus) is a collection of plant samples preserved for long-term
study, usually in the form of dried and pressed plants mounted on paper. The dried and
mounted plant samples are generally referred to as herbarium specimens.

Specimens accessioned into the herbarium are collected by faculty, students,

amateur botanists, or professionals, including agency biologists and environmental
consultants. Amateur botanists have collected many of our noteworthy specimens.

BRIEF HISTORY OF HERBARIUM

The making of herbaria is an ancient phenomenon, at least six centuries old, although the
techniques have changed little, and has been an important step in the transformation of the
study of plants from a branch of medicine to an independent discipline, and to make
available plant material from faraway places and over a long period of time.

The oldest traditions of making herbarium collections have been traced to Italy.
The Bologna physician and botanist, Luca Ghini (1490–1556) reintroduced the study of
actual plants as opposed to relying on classical texts, such as Dioscorides, which lacked
sufficient accuracy for identification. At first, he needed to make available plant material,
even in winter, hence his Hortus hiemalis (winter garden) or Hortus siccus (dry garden).
He and his students placed freshly gathered plants between two sheets of paper and applied
pressure to flatten them and absorb moisture. The dried specimen was then glued onto a
page in a book and annotated. This practice was supplemented by the parallel development
of the Hortus simplicium or Orto botanico (botanical garden) to supply material, which he
established at the University of Pisa in 1544.

The preparation of a herbarium involves:

(i) Field visits,

(ii) Collection of specimens

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(iii) Drying,

(iv) Mounting on a herbarium sheet,

(v) Preservation,

(vi) Labelling and

(vii) Proper storage.

(a) Field visits and specimen collection:

A complete specimen possesses all parts including root system, flowers and fruits.
Therefore, regular field visits are necessary to obtain information at every stage of growth
and reproduction of a plant species. In the fields, the tools required are mainly trowel
(digger) for digging roots, scissors and knife for cutting twigs, a stick with a hook for
collection of parts of tall trees, a field note book, polythene bag, old newspaper and
magazines. To avoid damage during transportation and preservation at least 5-G specimens
of a plant should by collected. The collected specimens are transported in a vasculum
(specimen box) to prevent willing, livery collected specimen must be tagged with a field
number and necessary information should be recorded in a field note book.

(b) Pressing and drying:

The specimens are spread out between the folds of old newspapers or blotting sheets
avoiding overlapping of parts. The larger specimen may’ folded in ‘N’ or’ W’ shapes. The
blotting sheets with plant specimen should be placed in the plant press for drying. After 24
to 48 hrs the press is opened.

(c) Mounting:
The dried specimens are mounted on herbarium sheets of standard size (41 x 29 cm).
Mounting is done with die help of glue, adhesive or cello-tape. The bulky plant parts like
dry fruits seeds, cones etc. are dried without pressing and are put in small envelops called

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fragment packets. Succulent plants are not mounted on herbarium sheets but are collected
in 4% formalin or FAA (Formalin Acetic Alcohol).

(f) Preservation:
The mounted specimens are sprayed with fungicides like 2% solution of mercuric chloride.

(e) Labelling:
A label is pasted or printed on the lower right hand corner. The label should indicate the
information about the locality, altitude, habit, date and lime of collection, name of
collector, common name, complete scientific name etc.

(f) Storage:
Properly dried, pressed and identified plant specimens are placed in thin paper folds
(specimen covers) which are kept together in thicker paper folders genus overs), and finally
they are incorporated into the herbarium cupboards in their proper position according to a
well known system of classification. In India Bentham and Hooker’s system of
classification is used for’ his purpose. Type specimens are generally stored in separate and
safe places.

REASON FOR HERBARIUM

Many kinds of scientists and naturalists use herbaria to preserve voucher specimens;
representative samples of plants used in a particular study to demonstrate precisely the
source of their data, or to enable confirmation of identification at a future date.
PLANT USE FOR HERBARIA
Herbarium specimens commonly include plants, conifers, ferns, mosses, liverworts and
algae, as well as fungi and lichens. Most plant specimens are dried by pressing the tissues,
allowing materials to be mounted on archival sheets or stored in packets.

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USES OF HERBARIA
Herbaria can be used to:
1. Discover or confirm the identity of a plant or determine that it is new to science
(taxonomy);
2. Document the concepts of the specialists who have studied the specimens in the past
(taxonomy);
3. Provide locality data for planning field trips (taxonomy, systematics, teaching);
4. Provide data for floristic studies (taxonomy);
5. Serve as a repository of new collections (taxonomy and systematics);
6. Provide data for revisions and monographs (systematics);
7. Verify Latin plant names (nomenclature);
8. Serve as a secure repository for “type” specimens (taxonomy);
9. Provide infrastructure for obtaining loans, etc., of research material (taxonomy,
systematics);
10. Facilitate and promote the exchange of new material among institutions (taxonomy);
11. Allow for the documentation of flowering and fruiting times and juvenile forms of
plants (taxonomy, systematics, ecology, phenology);
12. Provide the basis for an illustration of a plant (taxonomy, general publishing);
13. Provide pollen for taxonomic, systematic, and pollination studies as well as allergy
studies (taxonomy, systematics, pollination ecology, insect ecology, medical
studies);
14. Provide samples for the identification of plants eaten by animals (animal ecology);
15. Document which plants grew where through time (invasive species, climate change,
habitat destruction, etc.).
HERBARIA INSTITUTE IN THE NIGERIA
Herbarium Institution Location
Code
ABUH Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria. Kaduna. Zaria.
FPI Faculty of Pharmacy, O.A.U Nigeria. Osun State. Ile-Ife.
FHJ Federal College of Forestry Jos Nigeria. Plateau State. Jos.
EFH Forestry Commission Nigeria. Enugu.
FHI Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria Nigeria. Oyo. Ibadan.
GSUH Gombe State University Nigeria. Gombe. Gombe.
CEDD International Center for Ethnomedicine Nigeria. Enugu. Nsukka.
and Drug Development
IFE Obafemi Awolowo University Nigeria. Oyo. Ile-Ife.
UMYUH Umaru Musa Yar'dua University, Katsina, Nigeria. Katsina.
Nigeria Batagarawa.
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 UCI University of Ibadan Nigeria. Oyo. Ibadan.
JUHN University of Jos Nigeria. Plateau State. Jos.
ULN University of Lagos Nigeria. Lagos. Yaba.
LUH University of Lagos Nigeria. Lagos. Lagos.
UNN University of Nigeria Nigeria. Enugu. Nsukka.
Herbarium Curator
A herbarium curator oversees a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data
used for scientific study.

A curator

Pressed Specimen of Plant

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PREPARATION OF SKELETON
Bone preparation essentially involves soft tissue removal, bone bleaching, bone articulation and
labelling. The time required for these processes vary depending on the size of the human dead
body or the Caracas in case of animals.
All the processed bones of an animal joined together in their proper position is
termed an articulated skeleton while bones are kept separately in a disarticulated
skeleton. The bones of an animal are grouped in two categories.
Axial skeleton consists of skull, vertebral column and ribs, and appendicular
skeleton includes limb bones and girdles. In the preparation of a skeleton, under no
circumstances the bones of the distal portion of the limbs, viz., wrist to fingers in the
forelimb, and ankle to fingers in the hind limb should be separated from one another.
Preparation:
One should strictly follow the following steps in the preparation of a skeleton:
Skinning:
Remove the skin completely. The skin can be easily separated from the body except
certain localized areas, e.g., the roof of the cranium of toad.
Removal of viscera and other soft organs:
This includes all the soft structures except the muscles. They are not directly
associated with the bones and their removal is easy.
Removal of muscles:
Cut the muscles close to their attachment and insertions into the bones and cartilages
and separate them. Care should be taken not to damage the cartilages and the joints.
Extra precaution is needed in removing the muscles of the buccal floor and laryngeal
region, as the hyoid apparatus located there is liable to easy damage. All the muscles,
however, cannot be removed.
The bony frame with the remains of muscles is boiled in water in a submerged state
in a covered container. The period required for softening of muscles varies with

7
animal. For a frog or toad, it is about 5 minutes or a little more while for a rodent,
rat or guinea pig, it is about 10 to 15 minutes. Prolonged boiling may damage
cartilage and articular ends of bones.
Disarticulation and cleaning:
After cooling, transfer the whole thing to a large tray containing water. Carefully
separate the limb bones from the girdles and the girdles from the axial skeleton.
Remove the muscles, tendons and ligaments with a pair of forceps. A used tooth
brush with straight bristles (not deformed in use) is an excellent tool in the removal
of traces of muscles. The water of the tray should be changed frequently and the
cleaned materials kept submerged under clear water in a tray during the procedure.
Bleaching and curing:
Fat and other materials still present in the bones encourage microbial growth. These
must be removed to preserve the bones. Treat the bones either with chlorine solution
or hydrogen peroxide or lime water. The bones are kept immersed in the fluid for a
few hours, thoroughly washed with water and dried in a drier or preferably in
sunlight.
Polishing and preservation:
In bleaching, the bones turn almost white in colour. Passing the bones through a
weak, almost colourless varnish, renders the surface smooth and polished. At the
same time, it helps in preventing microbial growth. The disarticulated bones if not
meant for immediate use, either for preparation of an articulated skeleton or study,
should be kept in a properly sealed, air tight polythene bag.

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References

"Herbarius continens species plantarum tum patriarum tum exoticarum ad vivum

prout nascuntur in horto infirmariae celeberrimae Abbatiae
Diligemensis". lib.ugent.be. Retrieved 2020-08-27.

Edinburgh, Royal Botanic Garden. "Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - What is a

herbarium". www.rbge.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-25.

"Preparing and Storing Herbarium Specimens" (PDF). Conserve O Gram. National

Park Service. November 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2016.

"Fungarium". www.kew.org. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2

February 2016.

"Wood collection (xylarium)". www.kew.org. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Archived from the original on 17 July 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.

"Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium". plantbio.cals.cornell.edu. Cornell University

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Retrieved 2 February 2016.

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 QUESTIONS

1. What is preparation of Skeleton?

2. What are the steps of preparation of skeleton?
3. What is herbarium?
4. Brief history of Herbarium?
5. What is the preparation of herbarium involve?
6. Explain four preparation of herbarium?
7. What is reason for herbarium
8. What is are the plants use for herbarium
9. What are uses of Herbarium?
10.List of the herbarium Institute of Nigeria.

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 Answer

1. Bone preparation essentially involves soft tissue removal, bone bleaching,

bone articulation and labelling.
2. I. Skinning ii. Removal of Visceral and other Soft organ iii. Removal of
Muscles iv. Disarticulation and Cleaning
3. Herbarium (Latin hortus siccus) is also a collection of plant samples
preserved for long term study.
4. The making of herbaria is an ancient phenomenon, at least six centuries,
although the techniques have changed little.
5. i. Field Visit
ii. Collection of Specimen
iii. Drying
iv. Mounting on a herbarium sheet

6. a. Field visits and specimen collection: A complete specimen possesses all parts
including root system, flowers and fruits.
(b) Pressing and drying: The specimens are spread out between the folds of old
newspapers or blotting sheets avoiding overlapping of parts.
(c) Labelling: A label is pasted or printed on the lower right hand corner. The label
should indicate the information about the locality, altitude, habit, date and lime of
collection, name of collector, common name, complete scientific name etc.
(d)Storage: Properly dried, pressed and identified plant specimens are placed in
thin paper folds (specimen covers) which are kept together in thicker paper folders
genus overs), and finally they are incorporated into the herbarium cupboards in their
proper position according to a well known system of classification.

7. Many kind of scientist and naturalist use herbaria to preserve voucher specimen
8. a. Conifers b. Ferns c. Mosses d. Liverworts and algae

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9. a. Provide data for floristic studies (taxonomy)
b. Verify Latin plants names (Nomenclature)
c. Serve as a secure repository for “type” specimen (taxonomy)
10. a. University of Ibadan
b. University of Lagos
c. University of Jos
d. Obafemi Awolowo University
e. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
f. University of Nigeria

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