[Nhcoll-l] Time Once Again to Celebrate Old Croone Day

[Lewis, Deborah A [EEOBS]]

And here’s to you, John, with gratitude for all the conservation- and history-related knowledge we’ve gained from you! And to the many others of you who’ve shared your expertise!
Deb Lewis

Deborah Q. Lewis, Curator
Ada Hayden Herbarium (ISC/IA)
EEOB Department                                 Phone:  (1) 515-294-9499
Iowa State University                           FAX: (1) 515-294-1337
342 Bessey                                              Email: dlewis at iastate.edu<mailto:dlewis at iastate.edu>
2200 Osborn Drive
Ames, IA  50011-4009  (USA)

From: Nhcoll-l [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of John E Simmons
Sent: Monday, June 4, 2018 9:44 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Time Once Again to Celebrate Old Croone Day

Old Croone Day, 04 June

Today is Old Croone Day, an international holiday that marks the anniversary of a significant event in the history of natural history collections.

It was on this day, 04 June, in 1662 that a physician named Dr. William Croone showed “two embryos of puppy-dogs, which he had kept eight days, and were put in spirit in a glass-vial sealed hermetically” to the Royal Society of London. This is the first recorded mention of the long-term preservation of a scientific specimen in alcohol.

Although the production of beverage alcohol goes well back into the mists of prehistory, specimen preservation requires alcohol that is at least 100 proof (50%), which can only be achieved by distillation. Knowledge of distillation began to spread throughout Europe after the publication of The Little Book of Distillation by Hieronymus Brunschwygk in 1500. By the time Croone conducted his experiments, many London cellars and backrooms housed illicit stills that made strong alcohol from barley mash.

Croone (sometimes spelled Croune) was born in London on 15 September 1633. He was awarded a degree from Emmanuel College (Cambridge) in 1650, and in 1659 was appointed Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College in London. At Gresham College, Croone fell in with a small group of men who were interested in science experiments and founded the Royal Society of London in 1662. That same year, Croone was named “Doctor of Physic” by royal mandate at Cambridge, then elected a Fellow in the College of Physicians (in 1675) and appointed by the Barber-Surgeons' Company as an anatomy lecturer in 1670.

Croone developed a private medical practice but in his spare time he conducted research on physiology, embryology, the circulation of blood, respiration, the density of air, and the freezing of water. In 1664, he famously choked a chicken until it appeared dead, then revived the bird by inflating its lungs with fresh air through a glass pipe inserted down its throat. Croone died in London on 12 October 1684, and (ironically) was buried in the church of St Mildred, Poultry.

It was Croone’s interest in embryology that led him to accidentally discover fluid preservation. In this same spirit of scientific curiosity and inquiry, I invite you join me in celebrating 04 June this year with a fine single malt whiskey (or whatever is your beverage of choice) to preserve good friendships and reflect on how often important developments in science have so often come about when someone was trying to solve some other problem.

Here’s to you, Dr. William Croone!

John E. Simmons
Museologica
128 E. Burnside Street
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
simmons.johne at gmail.com<mailto:simmons.johne at gmail.com>
303-681-5708
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