The Victorians loved to collect creatures from nature and bring them
indoors as ornament-- making butterfly collections, pressed flowers, and
even microscope slides with tastefully arranged diatoms.
But two inventions allowed them to bring a bit of the natural world
into their house, not dead and preserved, but living and thriving in an
enclosed habitat.
One was the aquarium, which made a fine centerpiece:
Another was the Wardian Case, a sort of miniature greenhouse. Ferns were especially popular for these cases, in a fad known as Pteridomania:
One was the aquarium, which made a fine centerpiece:
Another was the Wardian Case, a sort of miniature greenhouse. Ferns were especially popular for these cases, in a fad known as Pteridomania:
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