You never know what you may find in the odd nook and cranny. Pull out some forgotten drawer of a "an old wooden cabinet" in the British Geological Survey. What treasures lie within unrevealed? A child sits up: "Doubloons, gold sovereigns, diamonds!" Nothing so mundane!
Dr Howard Falcon-Lang, a palaeontologist found a collection of slides from 1846, never catalogued, that had been compiled by Charles Darwin, Joseph Hooker and other members of his circle. This fabulous find has now been catalogued and studied for history and science. From the date, this will provide additional insight into Darwin's notes; perhaps anomalous references to specimens unseen can be reviewed with new clarity.
The slides are works of art in themselves. Instead of the small snapshots that we remember from school laboratories, these are up to half a foot in length, allowing the biologist to scroll across the specimen. Their journey is one of logistical legerdemain:
Royal Holloway, University of London said the fossils were 'lost' because Hooker failed to number them in the formal "specimen register" before setting out on an expedition to the Himalayas. In 1851, the "unregistered" fossils were moved to the Museum of Practical Geology in Piccadilly before being transferred to the South Kensington's Geological Museum in 1935 and then to the British Geological Survey's headquarters near Nottingham 50 years later, the university said.
Let us hope there are mysteries awaiting in other cabinets of curios.
