a. Quantity - Included are approximately 15,000-20,000 activity charts graphing the daily activity of experimental animals. The logbooks contain the statistical data which was used to generate the activity charts. Both the charts and the logbooks are arranged chronologically by experiment. There are also approximately 20,000 Esterline Angus charts (strip charts produced by a machine wired to an activity cage), stored in map drawers. The records are currently stored offsite in a warehouse.
b. Scope - The records cover research in a diversity of areas, including ingestive behavior and biological clocks. The daily activity charts display a graphic record of each animal through its lifetime. The activities shown on the charts vary according to experiment, but generally chart the following: intake of food and drink, physical activity, and sleep patterns. Most of the charts contain, in addition to the graphs, notes and diagrams by Richter. The logbooks contain the numerical data that was used to generate the charts, as well as occasional marginal notes. The Esterline Angus charts show activity patterns over time.
c. Arrangement - The charts are arranged by experiment, with each animal subject given a unique number. Within this arrangement, the charts are arranged chronologically. The logbooks are arranged chronologically. There is also an index, a series of notebooks arranged by name of research topic, that points to individuals chart numbers.
d. Intellectual significance - The overall body of research data from Richter's laboratory constitutes a major resource for research in various scientific disciplines (chronobiology, endocrinology, behavioral biology, and ingestive behaviors). Richter is widely acknowledged to have been a major figure in Twentieth Century biolgocial research.1 His 1921 paper on the nature and causation of spontaneous activity rhythms in rats came to be regarded as a classic and definitive study. He went on to make major contributions to research in biorhythms, ingestive behavior, endocrinology, domestication, animal surgery, sensory physiology, toxicology, and the central coordination of the reflexes. He carried out the first systematic study of cyclical behavior in mammals, published in his 1922 paper, "A Behavioristic Study of the Activity of the Rat." In his later work on humans, he studied the relationship between pathology and biological clocks. Several major research efforts today can be traced back directly to Richter's early investigations, and his published work is read and reread by contemporary investigators.
The confluence in Curt Richter of a creative researcher who founded several fields of current research, kept easily interpretable experimental records, and published only a part of his 60 years of research, makes the records a source of interest not only to historians but to scientific investigators.
e. Provenance - These records are the result of 60 years of research carried out by Richter and his associates in the Psychobiology Laboratory at Johns Hopkins. Shortly before his death in 1988, Richter agreed to deposit the records in the Medical Archives. In 1989, the Archives staff inventoried and packed the records and equipment from the laboratory, and these items were moved to an offsite warehouse.
f. State of preservation - The logbooks and the charts have been well-preserved, although some of the older charts have faded somewhat. the major preservation problem is that the collection has been contaminated with lead paint dust. Several years ago, the archives staff investigated lead abatement options and found this approach infeasible. As an alternative, some of the charts have been encapsulated in order to make them safe to handle.