ABSTRACT
This article outlines the significance of some of the discoveries in natural science made in India and the Himalayas by the Schlagintweit brothers, who were eminent nineteenth century scientists and explorers employed by the East India Company to carry out survey work. The mainly natural history subject matter covers zoology, botany, geology, surveying and ethnography. The article also describes how various specimens were collected and transported to the United Kingdom their investigation by scientists and their eventual places of custody in various institutions. Although there are specimens collected by the Schlagintweits in German institutions, the present work concentrates on the collections that were originally housed in the India Museum of the East India Company before its dispersal in 1879.
The paper was written whilst working at the India Office Library and Records, London, which is a department of the British Library, and the notes refer mainly to material held there.
