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

[John E Simmons]

*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
303-681-5708
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