Natural History Collection (page 31)

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte du Buffon, French naturalist, 1761. Author of the encyclopedic 44-volume Histoire Naturelle, Buffon (1707-1778) proposed that the Earth existed before 4004 BC

Pierre Belon, French naturalist, 1553 (1762). Belon (1517-1564), aged 36. Financed by the Cardinal of Tournon, Belon undertook extensive travels through Greece, Asia Minor, Arabia

Thomas Pennant, 18th century British naturalist and traveller, c1840. Pennant (1726-1798) is sitting by a tree holding a book representing his British Zoology published in 1766

Bustards, 1835. Top: male Little Bustard. Bottom: Great Bustard (Otis tardis). The Great Bustard became extinct in Britain in about 1830 as its habitat disappeared

Artists impression of deep sea scene with luminous fishes, 1903. Some of the creatures shown here were brought up in the dredges during the French oceanographical expeditions of the Travailleur

Water vole (Arvicola terrestris), also known as the black water rat, 1828. This animal is the Ratty of Kenneth Grahames childrens classic The Wind in the Willows

Brown rat (Rattus rattus), 1828. Probably originating in central Asia, the brown rats distribution is now worldwide, having been transported in European ships

Common or red fox (Vulpes vulpes), 1828. A dog fox. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray, one of the volumes in William Jardines Naturalists Library series. (Edinburgh, 1828)

Common dormouse (Muscardinus arvellanarius), hibernating rodent, 1828. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray, one of the volumes in William Jardines Naturalists Library series

Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), tree-living rodent native to Europe and Asia, 1828. In Britain its range and numbers have diminished of the past 50 years because of competition from the grey

The Hare (Lepus europaeus), 1828. A rodent which lives above ground, unlike its burrowing cousin the rabbit. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray

Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), 1828. A rodent introduced to Britain by the Normans in the 11th century as a protein source, it has become an agricultural pest

Harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) of the Old World, 1828. At 6 to 7 1/2 cm it is one of the smallest rodents. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray

Common or Eurasian badger (Meles meles), 1828. A mammal with the popular English name of Brock. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray

Polecat (Mustela putorius), member of the weasel family, 1828. Its reputation for the strong smell from anal gland secretions is hinted at in its Latin name

Stoat (Mustela erminea), member of the weasel family, 1828. A native of Asia, North America and Europe. In the colder parts of its range the animals have a white winter coat with black tail tip

Weasel (Putorius nivalis / Mustela vulgaris), the smallest European carnivore, 1828
Weasel (Putorius nivalis/Mustela vulgaris), the smallest European carnivore, 1828. Often confused with its larger relative the stoat (Mustela erminea)

European wild cat (Felis silvestris), 1828. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray, one of the volumes in William Jardines Naturalists Library series. (Edinburgh, 1828)

Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), Eurasian species of deer, 1828. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray, one of the volumes in William Jardines Naturalists Library series. (Edinburgh, 1828)

Hedgehog (Erinaceus europeas), 1828. The common spiny hedgehog, an insectivorous mammal of the Old World. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray

Natterers bat (Myotis nattereri), 1828. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray, one of the volumes in William Jardines Naturalists Library series. (Edinburgh, 1828)

Long-eared bat (Plectorus auritus), 1828. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray, one of the volumes in William Jardines Naturalists Library series. (Edinburgh, 1828)

Pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), 1828. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray, one of the volumes in William Jardines Naturalists Library series. (Edinburgh, 1828)

The common cole (Talpa europea), 1828
The Common Mole (Talpa europea), 1828. A small burrowing mammal with a distribution from Britain to Japan. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray

Darwinian Ancestor, 1887. Artist: George du Maurier
Darwinian Ancestor, 1887. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) said to the Scottish geologist Charles Lyell (1797-1875) Our ancestor was an animal which breathed water, had a swim-bladder

George du Maurier cartoon from Punch illustrating Darwinism, 1887. Artist: George du Maurier
Development of Species Under Civilisation, 1887. The old evolutionary argument of Nature or Nurture: it would be a brave person who came to a conclusion on this evidence. Cartoon from Punch

The Survival of the Fittest; application of Darwinism in the 21st century, 1880. Artist: George du Maurier
The Survival of the Fittest ; application of Darwinism in the 21st century, 1880. The term Survival of the fittest was first used by Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) in 1851

Jemmy Button, the Fuegian adopted by Fitzroys expedition, in 1834 (1839). During 1833 when Jemmy was living with the expedition, he was dressed in European clothes and his hair was cut short

Jemmy Button, the Fuegian adopted by the Fitzroy expedition, as he appeared in 1833 (1839). In 1834, after his return to his tribe, all trace of European influence disappeared

A Patagonian, c1831 (1839). From Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majestys Ships Adventure and Beagle Vol.I, by William Parker King (London, 1839)

Patagonians at Gregory Bay, 1831 (1839). From Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majestys Ships Adventure and Beagle Vol II, by Robert Fitzroy. (London, 1839)

Fuegians at Woollya, with the Fitzroy expeditions camp in the background, 1831 (1839). From Robert Fitzroys Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majestys Ships Adventure and Beagle, Vol. II

Charles Darwin (1809-1882), English naturalist, in his greenhouse
Charles Darwin, English naturalist, c1875, (1887). Darwin (1809-1882) at work in his greenhouse at Down House, his home near Beckenham, Kent

Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1883. Darwin (1809-1882) put forward the modern theory of evolution and proposed the principle of evolution by natural selection. From The Century Magazine

Down House, near Beckenham, Kent, from the garden, 1883. The home of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), the English naturalist who put forward the modern theory of evolution

Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1881. Artist: Edward Linley Sambourne
Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1881. As well as his better known work on evolution by natural selection, Darwins (1809-1882) studies covered other subjects

Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1875. Artist: Edward Linley Sambourne
Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1875. Darwin (1809-1882) was employed as naturalist on HMS Beagle from 1831-1836. He first made his name as a geologist

Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish naturalist and physician, 1807. Linnaeus (Carl von Linne) (1707-1778) was the founder of the modern system of plant and animal nomenclature

Leonhard Fuchs, German botanist and physician. Fuchs (1501-1556) botanical work Historia Stirpium, published in 1542 is regarded as a landmark in the development of the study

John Ray, English naturalist, 1680s. Artist: Abraham de Blois
John Ray, English naturalist, 1680s. Illustrated plate from the 1703 edition of Methodus Pantarum Nova by John Ray, first published in 1682. Ray was a naturalist and the pioneer of plant taxonomy

Fossil of Archaeopteryx Lithographica. Late Jurassic, (20th century). HV Meyer. Odeter Jura (Malm) Eichstatt, Bavaria

Neanderthal Woman: Reconstruction at British Museum, National History, c20th century
Neanderthal Woman, Reconstruction at British Museum, National History, c20th century

Fossil. Crinoid Lily, Ordovician to Pleistocene period, c450 million-10, 000 BC

Mammoth skeleton, 1823. Skeleton of a mammoth discovered in 1817 by Dr Mitchell of New York at Goschen, Orange County and later assembled in the Philadelphia Museum

Giant mastodon skeleton, 1830. Skeleton of a giant mastodon excavated by Wilson Peale of Philadelphia at Newburgh on the Hudson River in 1801

Murex, c1890. The mollusc which inhabited this shell was the source of Tyrian Purple dye

Unicorn, 1644. From Handelene van de Natuere, a Dutch translation of Natural History by Pliny the Elder (23-79), the Roman writer on natural history who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that

Archaeopteryx - the first bird, 1886. Artists reconstruction of an archaeopteryx, which made its appearance about 170 million years ago, based on fossil records

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