Contains 38 papers, representing the combined work of 55 authors. This is not an exhaustive treatment of the subject and is silent on several important collections and geographical areas. Nevertheless, this volume does contain a wide variety of histories that span much of the world in their combined scope and that range in subject from small regional examples of collection building to mammoth world-renowned institutions, and from little-known collectors to some of the ichthyological and herpetological giants of the last three centuries. Together, these studies paint a considerable part of the picture of the rich history of the study of poikilothermic vertebrates.