A green monkey, a baboon and…

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Skeleton of Eclipse in the RCVS Museum

Skeleton of Eclipse in the RCVS Museum

The story of the RCVS Museum Collection is not particularly well known –  any attention it has received focussing on its most famous ‘resident’ the skeleton of Eclipse (donated in 1871 by Professor John Gamgee.)  This is a shame as it housed a number of other interesting items, as a glance at the catalogue (item id 26652) compiled by Edward Reuben Edwards in December 1891 reveals.

The majority of items listed relate to horses, sheep and cattle but more exotic species are present – the first items are an ‘entire preparation of a green monkey’ and ‘the skull of a baboon’.  Later on we come to the ‘skull of a polar bear’ and, my personal favourite, the ‘trachea of the first giraffe ever brought to England.’  The human animal is also represented by a ‘human eyelid’ and eight skulls amongst other things.

It appears that the care of the Museum Collection was not one of the College’s priorities.  It took 27 years from the first recorded donation to the formation of the Museum Committee, in 1880. Whilst the first official record of the committee meeting is in August 1889 – nine years later.

This first meeting happened at a time when the Museum was described by Council as being in an ‘unsatisfactory state.’   There were two further meetings in the next nine months, with Council granting £100 to be spent on ‘repairs and other requisites’ and Mr Edward’s appointment at a salary of £3 3/- per week.

Preface of the 1891 museum catalogue

Preface of the 1891 museum catalogue

In the preface to the catalogue, Edwards’ laments that “compiling this catalogue has been a work attended by several difficulties, chief amongst which – perhaps – has been the almost entire absence of any history of the individual specimens.”  In fact, he did not include any item that was unidentifiable, with the result that the catalogue only contains 334 items, whilst the RCVS annual reports for 1853-1891 record almost 500 donations.  One notable absence in the catalogue is Eclipse!

Fast forward another 10 or so years and it appears that the Museum and its contents have once more fallen from the radar.  On the 11 April 1902 Council member Professor Albert Mettam says:

“is the Museum Committee ornamental or is it useful. Does it ever meet, or has it anything to do with the museum?  I was in the museum this morning and I think it is more a place to set potatoes in than anything else.” 1

In view of this somewhat chequered history it is little wonder that, in 1925, the RCVS gave up on its ambition to maintain a museum and agreed to disperse the specimens.

Why not check out the list of some of the more interesting donations to the museum that we have compiled from the annual reports and the catalogue?

1. Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons: report of quarterly meeting of Council.  Veterinary Record  19 April 1902 p654

Dogs, dominos and Dickens

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Dog playing dominos

Dog playing dominos from Dog Breaking by WN Hutchinson (1850)

One of our recent tweets  featured an illustration of a dog playing dominos.

This was taken from  Dog breaking: the most expeditious, certain, and easy method: whether great excellence or only mediocrity is required by Lieutenant Colonel W.N Hutchinson, (John Murray 1850.) The image shows a dog playing dominos with its owner Monsieur Leonard surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.

In the Historical Collection we have another image of a dog playing dominos, this time on a plate which was generously donated by Norman Comben in September 2011, the inscription reads: “Chien Munito gagnant son maitre aux dominoes.”

Plate showing Munito playing dominos

Plate showing Munito playing dominos

Munito, known as the ‘Learned Dog’, was first shown by Signor Castelli in London in 1817 before touring in Europe. As well as playing dominos he excelled at picking out playing cards and performing arithmetic.

It would appear that his performances were unforgettable.  In All the year round 26 January 1867 Charles Dickens writes:

“About 45 years ago, a learned dog was exhibited in Piccadilly –  Munito … He performed many curious feats, answering questions, telling the hour of the day … picking out any cards called for from a pack on the ground.”

Puzzling over how these feats could be explained Dickens returned a second time and discovered the secret.

“We watched more narrowly … noticed that between each feat the master gave the dog some small bits … of food, and that there was a faint smell of aniseed from that corner of the room.”

Dickens believed that as the owner set out the cards, he pressed his thumb on the chosen card impregnating it with the scent of aniseed which Munito had been trained to recognise.  He confronted Signor Castelli after the show, when all the audience had left, with this explanation.  Signor Castelli ‘did not deny the discovery.’

Munito also appears in Dick Sand by Jules Verne (published 1878) where the explanation of the feats is based on Munito being trained to respond to sound rather than  smell.

Whatever the explanation for these ‘tricks’ Hutchinson sums it up rather neatly “It is hard to imagine what it would be impossible to teach a dog, did the attainment of the required accomplishment sufficiently recompense the instructor’s trouble.”