The Natural History cabinet of the Imperial-Royal higher Gymnasium in Koper was first mentioned in the yearbook 1857-58. Since then, several trustees have been involved in his management, the first being Prof. Edoardo Visintini, followed by Prof. Oreste Gerosa (1877), naturalist dr. Vittorio Largaiolli (1907) and finally Prof. Rodolfo CER Moduenih (1921).
The most complete collections that have survived to this day and are exhibited in school showcases contain minerals and stones, snails and shells, herbaria and algaria, among which the flora marina justinopolitana algae collection, created by Antonio Zaratin, should be noted. To all this must be added the numerous birds, fish, reptiles, mammals and amphibians, stuffed or stored in glass jars, as well as the various wall panels and demountable models, about 2000 specimens in total.
Science cabinets often consisted of one or more rooms with a large table in the middle, on which samples were prepared or observed under a microscope. The collections contained stuffed or liquid-stored animals, petrified fossils, herbaria, dried specimens, and more.
Animals are purchased from appropriate companies or specialized preparators. The stuffed animal's skin was treated with arsenic compounds, preventing its decay due to the formation of mold or bacteria. He then strung the skin on an iron wire model of the animal and stuffed it with straw, sawdust and Cork.
Smaller animals (and some plants) could also be stored in glass jars. To do this, the organs or parts of them were immersed in a liquid containing an ever higher proportion of alcohol or formalin, so that these substances could slowly replace the water that was in the tissues and allow the preservation of tissues and internal organs.
To prepare the herbarium, the plant was spread out on paper, preferably on Alum treated from old books, taking care that the parts of the plant did not overlap. The Leaf with the plant was placed between other, completely dry leaves, and everything was pressed with a press or weight, but not too hard, since otherwise the plant organs would stick together, which would make it impossible to recognize the specimen. Damp paper had to be replaced with dry paper every day. In order to preserve the vivid colors, it was essential to dry the plants very quickly, sometimes placing them in still warm ovens. Finally, the leaves were stored in well-sealed boxes so that insects would not settle in them.
The Natural Science cabinet of the Imperial-Royal higher Gymnasium in Koper was taken care of by professors of Natural Sciences. One of his most important trustees was Prof. Oreste Gerosa, who came to Koper in 1877 from Rovereto in Trentino. In Koper it was welcomed by a very lively city, full of merchants and artisans, with a thriving agricultural hinterland. He settled with his family in Gian Rinaldo Carli Street (today Mayor's Street), in the building now known as the Gerosa Palace. He is credited with the extremely accurate cataloguing of the various specimens in the Cabinet.
Naravoslovni kabinet cesarsko-kraljeve višje gimnazije v Kopru je bil prvič omenjen v letopisu 1857-58. Od tedaj se je več skrbnikov ukvarjalo z njegovim vodenjem, prvi je bil prof. Edoardo Visintini, sledili so mu prof. Oreste Gerosa (1877), naravoslovec dr. Vittorio Largaiolli (1907) in nazadnje prof. Rodolfo Cerquenih (1921).
Najpopolnejše zbirke, ki so se ohranile do danes in so razstavljene v šolskih vitrinah, vsebujejo minerale in kamne, polže in školjke, herbarije in algarije, med katerimi je treba omeniti zbirko alg Flora marina justinopolitana, ki jo je ustvaril Antonio Zaratin. Vsemu temu je treba dodati še številne ptice, ribe, plazilce, sesalce in dvoživke, nagačene ali shranjene v steklenih kozarcih, tako kot tudi različne stenske table in razstavljive modele, skupaj približno 2000 primerkov.
Naravoslovni kabineti so pogosto obsegali eno ali več sob, ki so imele na sredi veliko mizo, na kateri so pripravljali vzorce oziroma jih opazovali pod mikroskopom. Zbirke so vsebovale nagačene ali v tekočini shranjene živali, okamnele fosile, herbarije, posušene primerke in drugo.
Živali so kupili od ustreznih podjetij ali specializiranih preparatorjev. Nagačevalec je živalsko kožo obdelal z arzenovimi spojinami, tako da je preprečil njeno propadanje zaradi tvorbe plesni ali bakterij. Kožo je potem napel na model živali iz železne žice in jo natlačil s slamo, žagovino in pluto.
Manjše živali (in nekatere rastline) je bilo mogoče shraniti tudi v steklene kozarce. V ta namen so organe ali njihove dele potopili v tekočino, ki je vsebovala vedno višji delež alkohola ali formalina, tako da so te snovi lahko počasi nadomestile vodo, ki je bila v tkivih, ter omogočile konzerviranje tkiv in notranjih organov.
Za pripravo herbarija so rastlino razprostrli na papir, najbolje na galunsko obdelanega iz starih knjig, ob čemer so morali paziti, da se deli rastline niso prekrivali. List z rastlino so položili med druge, popolnoma suhe liste, in vse stisnili s stiskalnico ali utežjo, vendar ne premočno, saj bi se sicer rastlinski organi sprijeli, kar bi onemogočilo prepoznavanje primerka. Vlažen papir je bilo treba vsak dan zamenjati s suhim. Da bi se ohranile žive barve, je bilo bistvenega pomena, da so rastline zelo hitro posušili, včasih so jih položili v še tople peči. Nazadnje so liste shranili v dobro zaprte škatle, da se v njih ne bi naselile žuželke.
Za naravoslovni kabinet cesarsko-kraljeve višje gimnazije v Kopru so skrbeli profesorji naravoslovja. Eden njegovih najpomembnejših skrbnikov je bil prof. Oreste Gerosa, ki je leta 1877 prišel v Koper iz Rovereta na Trentinskem. V Kopru ga je sprejelo zelo živahno mesto, polno trgovcev in obrtnikov, s cvetočim kmetijskim zaledjem. Z družino se je naselil v ulici Gian Rinaldo Carli (danes Župančičeva ulica), v stavbi, ki je danes znana kot palača Gerosa. Njemu gre zasluga za izjemno natančno katalogizacijo različnih primerkov v kabinetu.
