NB! · Archive · Mores · Nature · Humour
This Durham ox won posthumous fame, and a place on plates and postcards, merely by weighing a great deal. At the time of his death in 1807 he weighed over 1,200 kg
Books · Monarchies · Observations · Paris · Nature
The British writer Barbara Pym, in her ironic novel Crampton Hodnet, written in the 1930s and 1940s, observes that the fish in the ponds of the Petit Trianon are so old that they must have seen Marie Antoinette. In principle, some freshwater fish really do live for more than a
Art · Mores · Nature · Humour
During the quarantine nature was so purified that rare and endemic birds returned to the city gardens, and narwhals and mermaids to the canals of Venice. An illustration of 1790 to a charming poem by the French poet Charles Borde on the male member
Cinema · People · Nature
The dog Togo and his master Seppala, heroes of the Great Race of Mercy of 1925. In the coldest winter Alaska had known in twenty years, an epidemic of diphtheria broke out in the remote town of Nome, and the meagre stocks of serum there had passed their expiry date.
Heritage · Society · Nature
A petition has appeared online concerning restrictions on the construction of wind farms in France. The principal complaint is voiced by the Society for the Protection of French Landscapes and Aesthetics. Many country dwellers are convinced that the landscape of their native parts has been degraded by the wind turbines
Observations · Palaeontology · Nature · Humour
The pups Poppy and Sam have found an almost complete skeleton of an ichthyosaur, 190 million years old, on a beach in Somerset. Palaeontologists are now trying to establish whether the remains belong to a new species of extinct marine creature. In short, walk your doggies more often https://www.
London · Society · People · Nature
On 10 November 2015 the British House of Commons heard, in my view, one of the loveliest political speeches in history. The clever and intellectual Rory Stewart rose in Parliament to speak in defence of hedgehogs. I invite you to watch this brilliant ten-minute address by a product of
Archaeology · Museums · Nature
Excavations at Vindolanda, a Roman fort of the 1st to 5th centuries AD in Northumberland, south of Hadrian's Wall, have yielded a great many remarkable finds, such as the first known wooden toilet seat, or this witch's bonnet with its scraggly little beard. The photographs show
Science · Nature
Penicillin is so called because of its appearance: under the microscope, a colony of Penicillium looks like a brush. The name of the genus, Penicillus, comes from the Latin penicillus, "paintbrush". Oddly enough, penicillin is a kinsman of the word penis, from the Latin penis, "tail"
Geography · Observations · Science · Nature
There is a very beautiful mineral called rutile, which, incidentally, was first found in Russia, in the Central Urals, and is now mined in many countries of the world. Rutile tends to form long crystals in the shape of needles and bundles of needles, mostly golden or straw-coloured. Its
Science · Mores · Nature · Humour
The effect is believed to be named after Coolidge because of a curious incident that befell the President and his wife when they were visiting a poultry farm. Mrs Coolidge took an interest in the farm's productivity, and was told that the cocks could perform their duties many
Art · Madrid · Museums · Society · Nature
The Prado Museum and WWF have illustrated the consequences of climate change with great paintings from the museum's collection. Diego Velázquez's Philip IV is drowning, horse and all; Joachim Patinir's crossing to the underworld has run dry; Joaquín Sorolla's Children on the