NB! · Palaeontology · Nature · Ethnography

The shells of the bivalve mollusc Gryphaea are known as devil's toenails, and it is the toenails that are meant; in antiquity these valves were a common amulet and were used as a remedy for the joints

NB! · Observations · Education · Humour

I can't put my finger on what exactly bothers me about this Latin crib sheet; perhaps it is that the child's abs are better than mine?

NB! · Pop Culture · Nature · Ethnography

The root of the mandrake really does resemble a human body, which may be why it was credited with magical properties (think of Harry Potter); there are also mentions that it helps against female infertility

NB! · Archive · Books · Science · Nature

Mandrake

Mandrake. Drawing from the Greek treatise "On Medicinal Substances". This copy dates from the 10th century, although the original was written by Pedanius Dioscorides in the 1st century AD and was copied for 1,500 years

NB! · Art · London · Monarchies · Mores · Humour

A necklace of the teeth of stags slain by Prince Albert, presented to Queen Victoria

Two yellow heraldic figures on a blue field: a stylised toad on the left and a fleur-de-lis on the right.

NB! · Monarchies · Observations

Theories on the Origin of the Fleur-de-Lis from a Toad or Water Iris

There is a version that the king eventually tired of the toads and replaced them with the fleur-de-lis. The flower may be a heraldic adaptation of the shape of a frog, and its origin is sometimes linked to the water iris

NB! · Faith · Monarchies · People

Clovis I (466-511) chose as his emblem a shield with three toads; according to legend, after Clovis's baptism an angel replaced it with a shield bearing golden lilies, which for many centuries would symbolise royal power in France

NB! · Faith · Observations · Humour

Silver reliquary with a fragment of a garment of Saint Anne, grandmother of Jesus, 18th century, wax seal with threads

Silver reliquary with a fragment of a garment of Saint Anne, grandmother of Jesus, 18th century, wax seal with threads. FOR SALE ON EBAY for $399.9. It raises a good many questions, of course

NB! · Art · Humour

Portrait of a Russian Nationalist, Bartholomeus van der Helst, 1642

In a painted portrait, two men in white garments, turbans, pearl necklaces and earrings sit before a standing figure in red.

NB! · The East · Art · Monarchies · Observations

Madhav Rao II and Minister Nana Farnavis in a portrait with 18th-century jewellery

Madhav Rao II, head of the Hindu Maratha state, who would take his own life at twenty-one, and his moustachioed minister Nana Phadnavis, who stood against the English. Good jewellery for the eighteenth century, especially the earrings

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Monarchies · Moscow · Heritage

The monument to Alexander III on the Prechistenskaya Embankment took 12 years to build, and 2.5 million roubles were raised for it by subscription

The monument to Alexander III on the Prechistenskaya Embankment took 12 years to build, and 2.5 million roubles were raised for it by subscription. It was pulled down six years after its unveiling, in the summer of 1918

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations · Humour

Whatever Catholics choose to call the banner with the Madonna, oriflamme or gonfalon, I merely wanted to show what a splendid contraption the youth has between his legs: for redistributing the weight of the heavy staff, so to speak