[Nhcoll-l] Bleaching Hippo bones

[Bethany Palumbo]

Dear all,

We have the complete skeleton of a Hippo which quite suddenly has started to appear bleached, with new cracks forming on the surface. It has been stored in the same room for many years, however we recently moved it from a cupboard into the open air (the cupboard was demolished with aims to build a better one). No natural light gets into the store room and the environmental conditions, though not perfect, are pretty consistent. The bleaching disappears when rubbed with a damp brush (as seen in lower left corner of first picture) but it reappears once dry. The pattern is very random with bleaching occurring on all sides. No other specimens in the space have been effected. I have a suspicion that chemicals were used in its preparation, leaving residues that are now reacting to something, but what? Any suggestions on what could be causing this and how to treat it would be greatly appreciated!

[cid:image002.jpg at 01D03666.7E4ACDA0]

With many thanks,

Bethany Palumbo

Conservator, Life Collections
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Tel: 01865 272996
bethany.palumbo at oum.ox.ac.uk<mailto:bethany.palumbo at oum.ox.ac.uk>
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