[Nhcoll-l] The Dangerous Museum

[Callomon,Paul]

We had a freezer fail the other day. Sod's Law (the UK version of Murphy's Law) said it was the only one that did not have a fail alarm, so things got good and warm and stayed that way for several days, if not weeks. The first indication something was wrong was the presence of Drosophila in the adjacent collection area. Laudably - but inadvisably - one of our botanists investigated, found the delinquent freezer...and opened the lid. In retrospect, he shouldn't have taken a sudden intake of breath with that many fruit flies directly in front of his face...


Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and General Invertebrates
________________________________
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia
callomon at ansp.org<mailto:callomon at ansp.org> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170



From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Kate Pocklington
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 10:17 PM
To: dinoceras at juno.com; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] The Dangerous Museum

Story goes that back in the old days (late 1800's, early 1900's) some chap found a cone snail on a beach in South Africa, it made it back to the museum but sadly he didn't, he got harpooned and killed. (I heard this whilst working at Oxford University Museum of Natural History.)

Personally the most disgusting thing I've come across; a tank of fish, the alcohol had evaporated down to about 5cm in the bottom of the tank (~10%), the whole thing was infested with Megaselia scalaris including the maggots. The tank surfaces were covered with a layer of eggs and maggots. Not to mention how disgusting the smell was... the fish were rotting and the worst part; they were squirming with the amount of maggots. Conservation to the max.



-----Original Message-----
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of dinoceras at juno.com<mailto:dinoceras at juno.com>
Sent: 10 December 2013 23:19
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] The Dangerous Museum

Hi all,

I'm working on a talk for visitors to our museum that's all about the types of dangers (dangerous objects, substances, activities, etc.) we sometimes encounter in our work behind-the-scenes in collections. It's meant to be informative, not to mention---entertaining. I'm starting with how we get objects to the museum, preparing & conserving them, handling them, etc. If any of you have any stories or images you are willing to share along these lines, please contact me. I'd love to hear about what you've had to deal with from disease-carrying rodents to nasty stuff on clothing & herbarium sheets, and everything in between.

Thanks in advance,

Chris Chandler

Curator of Natural Science
Putnam Museum
Davenport, IA

dinoceras at juno.com<mailto:dinoceras at juno.com>
563-324-1054 x226
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