A collection of hundreds of fossil specimens, including some
gathered by Darwin on his travels, have been discovered after 165
years hidden in an old cabinet.
The 314 slides were found by Dr. Howard
Falcon-Lang from the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal
Holloway at the British Geological Survey. The professor says in a release: "While searching through an old cabinet, I
spotted some drawers marked 'unregistered fossil plants'. I can't
resist a mystery, so I pulled one open. What I found inside made my
The glass slides were made by polishing fossil plants into thin
translucent sheets, explains Falcon-Lang, to allow them to be
studied under the microscope. Among these was a piece of fossilised
wood that had been collected by Darwin during his voyage on the Beagle.
The British Geological Survey believes that it was the
responsibility of botanist Joseph Hooker to collate and catalogue
the slides, which also include specimens he himself had collected
on a circum-Antarctic voyage in 1840. However, he failed to number
them in the organisation's formal "specimen register" before
setting out on an expedition to the Himalayas.
"In 1851, the 'unregistered' fossils were moved to the Museum of
Practical Geology in Piccadilly, before being transferred to the
Geological Museum, South Kensington in 1935, and finally onto the
British Geological Survey HQ near Nottingham 50 years later. With
each move the significance of the fossils gradually became
forgotten," the organisation explained.
Falcon-Lang made the discovery in April last year, but said that
it has taken months to determine where the specimens came from and
whether they were of import. They have also been photographed in
that time and are now going to be made available for public viewing
online. The Geological Survey added in a post about the discovery: "It is hoped that this [online
exhibition] will stimulate more research, shedding light on the
early history of palaeobotany, and affording these beautiful
slides, the attention that they have been denied for so long."
However, the find has also led those at the Geological Survey to
question whether there are any further objects of historical
importance lost in the archives. Dr. John Ludden, Executive
Director of the Geological Survey said: "This is quite a remarkable
discovery. It really makes one wonder what else might be hiding in