Vergleichende Anatomie der Wirbeltiere: Rana esculenta. Wasserfrosch. [Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates: Rana esculenta. Water Frog.] by Schmid, Bastian - c. 1920s

Munich: J. F. Schreiber & Deutsche Hochbild-Gesellschaft, c. 1920s. Painted plaster anatomical relief display in wooden frame (240 x 302 mm). Printed paper label to the rear. Housed in the original box with the stamp of the publisher's archive and two handwritten labels - one giving the name of the display and the other reading "F21". Also with the original tissue-covered cotton insert to protect the relief. A few very minor scratches and spots to the frame. There is some wear to the box and the tissue covering for the cotton padding is torn. Excellent condition. Uncommon, early-20th century anatomical relief of the European frog species Rana esculenta (the common European water frog, or green frog). The publisher's archive copy, in excellent condition in the original box. This relief was one of a series produced for schools, Vergleichende Anatomie der Wirbeltiere (Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates), designed by the German behavioural scientist and educational writer Bastian Schmid (1870-1944) for the major educational publisher J. F. Schreiber. They were published in co-operation with the Deutsche Hochbild-Gesellschaft (German Society for Relief Pictures), which published scientific relief pictures using a method analogous to the Wenschow Process. The printed paper label on the back gives the names of the frogs' body parts and also introduces the diagram, "This relief is the second in the series Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates and, like the Fish, is intended to be useful both for theoretical instruction and for biological exercises in higher schools. To the left a female, on the right a male animal, both natural size with the brain and spinal cord enlarged. In the female we see the entire intestines, the respiratory system, the heart with its anterior chambers, the aortic arch..."