The collection contains several hundred permanent histological preparations (about 4 thousand) intended for students from all departments of Saint-Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University (SPSPMU) as a demonstrational material for the basic courses on cytology, histology and embryology of vertebrate animals and human. The collection may supplement the standard instructional collections of histological preparations used in teaching the students of all medical insitutions of higher learning and biological departments of universities during the practical classes on histology and embryology. This collection can also serve as a visual teaching aid for the educational courses on zoology, physiology, higher functions of the nervous system, evolutionary theory, etc.
Neuromophological part of the collection includes histological preparations of sections through the brain, spinal cord, spinal ganglia, and various ganglia of the vegetative (autonomous) nervous system, peripheral nerves, nerve nets in the walls of internal organs and skin, nerve endings on the skeletal muculature, free and encapsulated receptor endings in the body wall of humans and mammals, encapsulated receptor endings in the walls of bird beaks, sensory organs including eyes, organs of hearing (axial sections through the cochlea, inner ear), taste organs (taste buds on the tongue papillae), and preparations showing different types of glial cells and neurons. There are preparations of endocrine structures: hypophysis, hypothalamus, adrenal glands , thyroid and parathyroid glands. The majority of preparations were made on mammals (dog, cat) and there are a few preparations of humans and birds (chicken). Most preparations were stained with hematoxylin-eosin, thionin, cresyl violet or Nissl's toluidine blue or impregnated with silver nitrate, in some cases with an additional staining by carmine. Silver impregnation was made by the Cajal and Bielschowsky-Gross methods. Some preparations were postfixed with osmium tetroxide and stained with hematoxylin by the method developed by N.K. Kul'chitsky to reveal the myelin sheaths of the nerves. The preparations of the peripheral nervous system were additionally stained supravitally with methylene blue by the method developed by A.S. Dogiel and with hematoxylin-picrofuchsin.
The embryological part of the collection includes histological preparations of sections and whole-mount embryos of amphibians (frog, axolotl), birds (chicken), fishes (trout), mammals (rabbit, rat, mouse) and humans at different developmental stages and showing the developmental sequence of the nervous system and main sense organs. The majority of preparations is stained with hematoxylin or hematoxylin-eosin; there are preparations impregnated with silver nitrate or stained with hematoxylin-picrofuchsin or carmine-aniline blue.
Most preparations were made over many years by former employees of the Department of Histology and Embryology (SPSPMU) including T.E. Ivanova, G.A. Nevmyvaka (presumably), S.A. Zavalishina and L.V. Suvorova. The preparations are kept at the Department of Histology and Embryology (SPSPMU).