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A short history of nearly everythingDepending on whim and availability, guests to BucklandБЂ™s house might be served baked guinea pig, mice in batter, roasted hedgehog, or boiled Southeast Asian sea slug. Buckland was able to find merit in them all, except the common garden mole, which he declared disgusting. Almost inevitably, he became the leading authority on coprolites-fossilized feces-and had a table made entirely out of his collection of specimens. Even when conducting serious science his manner was generally singular. Once Mrs. Buckland found herself being shaken awake in the middle of the night, her husband crying in excitement: БЂњMy dear, I believe that CheirotheriumБЂ™s footsteps are undoubtedly testudinal.БЂ«Together they hurried to the kitchen in their nightclothes. Mrs. Buckland made a flour paste, which she spread across the table, while the Reverend Buckland fetched the family tortoise. Plunking it onto the paste, they goaded it forward and discovered to their delight that its footprints did indeed match those of the fossil Buckland had been studying ...» |
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