Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.9302
Looking for a special gift? Buy a print of this image.
“Nautilus melo...” [two specimens of foraminifera]
Date
ca. 1850s
Creator
Henry Bowman Brady (1835 - 1891, British) , Naturalist
After
Leopold von Fichtel (1770 - 1810, Austrian) , Palaeontologist
Johann Paul Carl von Moll (1735 - 1812, Austrian) , Palaeontologist
Johann Paul Carl von Moll (1735 - 1812, Austrian) , Palaeontologist
Object type
Material
Dimensions
height (painting): 257mm
width (painting): 204mm
width (painting): 204mm
Subject
Description
Copy of plate 24 from from Testacea microscopica aliaque minuta ex generibus Argonauta et Nautilu...by Leopold von Fichtel and J.P.C.von Moll (New edition, Vienna, 1803. Inscribed below with captioning details. “Nautilus melo var...[chi and beta] Alveolina Melo...”
The two foraminifera [single-celled marine organisms with shells] in the illustration are reproduced under magnification, in section, and at actual size. In modern taxonomy, varieties of Borelis melo.
The two foraminifera [single-celled marine organisms with shells] in the illustration are reproduced under magnification, in section, and at actual size. In modern taxonomy, varieties of Borelis melo.
Object history
One of a series of copied illustrations from printed sources on foraminifera, largely from the 1850s but also drawing upon earlier sources. It is likely that Brady was tracing, colouring and note-taking to train himself in the recognition and nomenclature of these shelled marine protozoans.
Presented to the Royal Society as part of the Brady Library: The donation is recorded in Council Minutes: “Read a letter from Prof.G.S.Brady, communicating the following extracts from the Will of his brother, the late Henry Bowman Brady:- ‘I bequeath all my books and papers relating to the Protozoa to the Royal Society of London...said books and papers should be kept together...’ The Secretary was directed to answer that the Society gratefully accept the valuable gifts...” [Royal Society Council Minutes Printed, 1884-92, vol.6 p.349 19 February 1891].
The naturalist and pharmacist Henry Bowman Brady published scientific papers on protozoa from the 1860s and is best known for his contribution to the HMS Challenger oceanographic expedition. Report on the foraminifera dredged by HMS Challenger during the years 1873-1876 (1884).
Presented to the Royal Society as part of the Brady Library: The donation is recorded in Council Minutes: “Read a letter from Prof.G.S.Brady, communicating the following extracts from the Will of his brother, the late Henry Bowman Brady:- ‘I bequeath all my books and papers relating to the Protozoa to the Royal Society of London...said books and papers should be kept together...’ The Secretary was directed to answer that the Society gratefully accept the valuable gifts...” [Royal Society Council Minutes Printed, 1884-92, vol.6 p.349 19 February 1891].
The naturalist and pharmacist Henry Bowman Brady published scientific papers on protozoa from the 1860s and is best known for his contribution to the HMS Challenger oceanographic expedition. Report on the foraminifera dredged by HMS Challenger during the years 1873-1876 (1884).
Associated place