NB! · Observations · Nature · Humour

My cat demands attention and a pouch of food at 7 a.m.

Detail of a painting showing a pug in a white wig sitting on a small table beside a glass and a sheet of paper.

Art · London · Observations · Nature · Humour

Trump the pug, William Hogarth's dog, and how 18th-century pugs differed from modern ones

Trump the pug, dog of William Hogarth. The finest Trump I have ever had occasion to see. Incidentally, how different the pugs of the eighteenth century were from their modern descendants: their legs were longer and their bodies slimmer. And wigs suited them far better, too.

Faith · Museums · Observations · Nature

I understand that not everyone will care for regular gardens of the French type

I understand that not everyone will care for regular gardens of the French type. Very well, then: I was taken with the metropolitan's garden of apple, pear, cherry and plum trees beneath the ancient walls of the Rostov Kremlin. Metropolitan Jonah Sysoyevich conceived it in the manner of

Aristocracy · Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Nature

Prince Nikolay Yusupov and the bitter orange trees in the Arkhangelskoye orangeries

When I wrote that Arkhangelskoye has nothing in common with Versailles, I was slightly mistaken. Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, great-grandson of the first baptised Yusupov, Abdul-Murza (Dmitry Seyushevich in baptism), who was himself a great-grandson of the founder of the line, the ruling sultan of the Nogai

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Nature

Some of the larches in the park at Arkhangelskoye are two hundred years old, and on plans from the early nineteenth century they appear as tiny saplings half a metre tall

Some of the larches in the park at Arkhangelskoye are two hundred years old, and on plans from the early nineteenth century they appear as tiny saplings half a metre tall. The trees were planted so that their trunks would visually continue the palace colonnade

In the foyer of the Anatomical Museum two large elephant skeletons flank a doorway marked Anatomical Museum, with two busts on pedestals between them.

NB! · Museums · Palaeontology · Nature · Humour

Skeletons in the Edinburgh Anatomical Museum foyer belong to elephants, not dinosaurs or mammoths

For many years two skeletons in the foyer of the University of Edinburgh's Anatomical Museum were believed to be the remains of dinosaurs, and later of mammoths. They are, in fact, elephants

Maps · Monarchies · Museums · Observations · Science · Nature · Reportage

Prince Albert I and his ocean research instruments at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco

Our stroll through the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco continues. In the frame: equipment for exploring the seabed and taking soil samples, along with preserved marine fauna from the time of the museum's founder, Prince Albert I, who, after service in the French navy, devoted his leisure to a

A stuffed albatross with outstretched wings hangs in a glass museum display case, with other mounted birds below.

NB! · Observations · Nature

Mounted wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans, with a wingspan of over three metres

A rather large albatross. I did not know it, but the wingspan of Diomedea exulans reaches more than 3 metres

NB! · Architecture · Museums · Observations · Nature

The staircases of Monaco's Oceanographic Museum are adorned with the shells of giant molluscs

The staircases of Monaco's Oceanographic Museum are adorned with the shells of giant molluscs. Remember the tridacna that serves as a holy water stoup in Saint-Sulpice?

Architecture · Monarchies · Museums · Science · Nature

The Oceanographic Museum, founded in the late nineteenth century by Prince Albert I, occupies an enormous building overhanging the sea

The Oceanographic Museum, founded in the late nineteenth century by Prince Albert I, occupies an enormous building overhanging the sea. Inside are a colossal collection of stuffed marine animals, equipment for the study of the ocean, an aquarium, interactive exhibits and a collection of personal belongings and instruments of the

NB! · Observations · Society · Nature

The ocean sunfish, also known as the mola, also known as the headfish, tells us that the plastic bags in the ocean, which she mistakes for food, are killing her

The ocean sunfish, also known as the mola, also known as the headfish, tells us that the plastic bags in the ocean, which she mistakes for food, are killing her. Very sad

NB! · Observations · Nature · Humour

Just look at those eyes!

Just look at those eyes! This charmer of a flying fish all but begs to be picked up and cuddled