"Mr Martens shot an ostrich; and I looked at it, forgetting at the moment, in the most unaccountable manner, the whole subject of the Petises, and thought it was a not full-grown bird of the common sort. It was cooked and eaten before my memory returned. Fortunately, the head, neck, legs, wings, many larger feathers, and large part of the skin, ha been preserved; and from these a very nearly perfect specimen has been put together, and is now exhibited in the museum of the Zoological Society. Mr. Gould, in describing this new species, has done me the honour of calling it after my name." Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle
I remember hearing this story as an undergrad and it always gives me a chuckle. Here he is recounting the discovery of the Lesser Rhea or Darwin's Rhea. Not that is was unknown to science but to know a new species you'll need to write it up, submit the paper, have it accepted, and deposit a type specimen at a museum.
______________________________________________________________________
Finally celebrated my fifth anniversary with my wife at the Bischwind B&B. Fantastic and stayed in the Teddy Roosevelt room - super swanky.
And now.. back to my book chapter!
No comments:
Post a Comment