After having characterised the Paris collection we set out to London. Someone said it before; "it was the best of times (pfew, what a collection!), it was the worst of times (pfew, not so sure about Haggis served in London pubs), it was
the age of wisdom (the British Museum of Natural History was home to such noteable workers as Sladen, A.M. Clark and F. Rowe), it was the age of foolishness (should we really comment on the value of some of the species erected by a former BMNH director?), it was the epoch of belief (J. Ray was as much a creationist as Linnaeus), it was the epoch of incrudility (which we poor Belgians do not understand); it was the season of Light (yes, spring was already in the air), it was the season of Darkness (yes, they do have Guiness in London pubs), it was the spring of hope (euhhh, we suppose so), it was the winter of despair" ... STOP! This does not fit, we did not go in winter, we went in spring! Truly, this Charles is proving to be only half the taxonomist of our dear butterfly taxonomist, Vladimir.
Any and either way, the London collection proved very much worth a visit! Not only were we able to put our hands on xx type specimens, take some yy pictures and some zz tissue samples for later analysis back in Belgium, also were we in the very privileged position to meet our host: Dr Andrew Cabrinowicz.
We also took the occasion to brief our British colleagues on the purpose of our visit, and this through a powerpoint presentation that frames our work in that of the PEET project.
The Natural History Museum in London, a world famous bastion of natural sciences.
Guess who's nervous for the presentation...
