La Paleontología en el Real Gabinete de Historia Natural en los siglos XVIII y XIX (1771-1895)

• Autores: A. Montero Bastarreche, Carmen Diéguez Jiménez
• Localización: Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. Sección geológica, ISSN 0583-7510, Tomo 94, Nº 1-2, 1998, págs. 139-148
• Idioma: español
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• Resumen
  • español

    En este trabajo, se describe y analiza el interés por la ciencia paleontológica y su desarrollo en el Real Gabinete de Historia Natural durante el período que comprende desde su creación hasta que es trasladado al Palacio de Bibliotecas y Museos y que abarca el último tercio del siglo XVIII y prácticamente todo el XIX. Todo este lapso de tiempo se ha dividido en tres etapas o períodos en base a la trayectoria de las colecciones paleontológicas, en el interés por la ciencia paleontológica y su enseñanza y en los cambios en el Gabinete, tanto de naturalistas relevantes como en la vinculación del Centro a otras instituciones. Estos tres períodos son los primeros de los cinco en que hemos dividido (Montero, 1995), a lo largo de toda su historia, la trayectoria del Gabinete en función de la ciencia paleontológica desarrollada en él y sus colecciones, aspectos inseparables en el Real Gabinete de Historia Natural, después Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Los períodos son: el primero (1771-1808), comienza con la compra por el monarca Carlos III del gabinete del comerciante Pedro Franco Dávila y termina con la llegada de las tropas napoleónicas a España. Es un período de crecimiento del ya Real Gabinete que recoge todo el espíritu de la Ilustración. El segundo período (1809-1845), comienza con la etapa de dominación francesa de muy escasa actividad y termina cuando el Gabinete pasa a depender de la Facultad de Filosofía y se nombra, por primera vez, un director (Jefe local) de carrera científica: Mariano de la Paz Graells. Este período está marcado por la inestabilidad dentro del Gabinete, debido a la situación política del país, y la escasez de recursos para incrementar las colecciones. El tercer período (1846-1895) engloba prácticamente toda la vida científica de los grandes naturalistas españoles del siglo pasado: Mariano de la Paz Graells, Juan Vilanova y Piera, Laureano Pérez Arcas, Francisco Quiroga entre otros y parte de la siguiente generación: Ignacio Bolívar o Salvador Calderón. Termina este tercer período casi a final de siglo con el traslado de todo el Gabinete a un nuevo emplazamiento y la muerte, en esos años, de casi todos los naturalistas que habían dado durante medio siglo un elevado prestigio internacional al Gabinete que ya empezaba a llamarse Museo.

  • English

    This paper, describes and analizes the interest for paleontological science and its development in the Real Gabinete de Historia Natural of Madrid (nowadays the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales) from the museums creation to its removal to the Libraries and Museums Palace throughout the last third of the XVIII century and almost all of the XIX century. The long period in the Real Gabinete de Historia Natural has been divided in three stages based on the trajectory of its paleontological collections, on the interest for paleontological science and its teaching there and finally on the changes among professors and staff in the institution itself or changes in the institution's status in relation to other institutions. Thess three stages are the first of a total of five in which the Real Gabinete trajectory has been divided (Montero, 1995) throughout its history according to paleontological science and according to its collections. The periods are: the first stage (1771-1808), the second stage (1809-1845) and the third stage (1846-1895). The first stage began when the Pedro Franco Davila's cabinet was purchased by King Carlos III and finished when the Napoleonic French troops invaded Spain. This stage was a period of splendour in which the Real Gabinete took up the "enlightened" spirit of the times. The second stage began when the French government was installed in Madrid and ended when the Philosophy Faculty took over the direction of the Real Gabinete and a scientific director was appointed. During this stage the Real Gabinete suffered a low activity, with political unstability and an absence of economic resources in the country to the detriment of the Real Gabinete and its collections. The third stage encompassed almost the complete scientific lives of a few well known Spanish naturalists of the last century such as Mariano de la Paz Graells, Juan Vilanova y Piera, Laureano Pérez Arcas and Francisco Quiroga among others and the beginning of the next scientific generation such as Ignacio Bolivar or Salvador Calderón. This stage, finished at the turn of the century with the Real Gabinete (now being deemed the Museo de Ciencias Naturales), moving to a new site and with the deaths of many prestigious Real Gabinete's naturalists. Since the begining of the Real Gabinete de Historia Natural and throughout its history, the teaching of Natural History was one of its principle objectives, but this activity could not be performed until 1798, with the creation of the Real Estudio de Mineralogía. Paleontology was a "new" science and was only begun to be taught in the second half of the XIX century by Vilanova y Piera, the first professor of Paleontology of the Central University of Madrid. During the first half of the XIX century the poor knowledge about Paleontology and paleontological collections was divided between the only then existing chairs: Mineralogy (fossil resins with inclusions, rocks with fossils, silicified trunks) and Zoology. During the second half advances reached a level similar to that in the rest of Europe and the collections were divided among the professorships of Mineralogy, Zoology, Geology and Paleontology. In the XIX century, the influence of European naturalists was also limited by the political views in Spanish naturalists. During the second half of the XVIII century fossils were considered more as curious objects suitable for exhibition than as material worthy of scientific studies. We must wait until the second half of the XIX century before publications of zoological works that included fossils began to appear, but above all the fossils are considered a useful tool in the study and dating of beds and this continued up to the first third of the XX century when two different lines of research began to appear: one, purely biological in which studies of evolution play an important role and another, basically stratigraphical. The political trajectory of the country has had a decisive influence on the Real Gabinete since its beginning, both on its teaching role and on the growth and acquisition of collections.