[Nhcoll-l] Old Croone Day 2021

[John E Simmons]

*Old Croone Day, 04 June 2021*



There was once a man, William Croone,

Whose specimens deteriorated too soon.

But using spirits of wine,

He found they did fine,

Which we celebrate each 4th of June.



Old Croone Day is an international holiday to celebrate the first recorded
mention of the preservation of scientific specimens in alcohol, which took
place on 04 June of 1662. On that momentous occasion, Dr. William Croone
(1633-1684) showed his fellow members of the Royal Society of London “two
embryos of puppy-dogs, which he had kept eight days, and were put in spirit
in a glass-vial sealed hermetically.” Croone was a founding member and
secretary of the *Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge*,
the oldest scientific society in the world. Ironically, his name was
misspelled as Croune in the meeting records (see below).



Croone, a graduate of Cambridge University (Emmanuel College), variously
served as a professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College, a physician, and
an anatomy
lecturer while pursing diverse interests in physics, physiology, and
embryology. It was Croone’s interest in entomology that led him to discover
the possibilities of fluid preservation in spirits of wine (ethyl alcohol).



Let us join together to celebrate the spirit of curiosity and scientific
inquiry with a glass of your favorite beverage and a toast the preservation
of good friendships while basking in the pleasure of finding things out.



Here’s to you, Dr. William Croone!



[image: image.png]

--John


John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
*and*
Associate Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
*and*
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima
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