Did you floss this morning?

First of all a word of thanks for the kind comments on my 200th blip, yesterday.

Today is a new day and I thought I would tell you a story about the skull of a Nile crocodile. I am afraid that its dental hygiene is pretty poor and this morning it seems have spinach and something quite horrible stuck in its teeth.

The crocodile has a particularly interesting story attached to it concerning the attempts of Sir John Struthers, Regius Chair of Anatomy at Aberdeen University, to acquire it for his museum of anatomy. It was a crocodile hunt that was to last for 33 years! The following account is based on an article the late Professor R. D. Lockhart*:

The skeleton of the crocodile had been presented to to the Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1822. In 1866 Professor Struthers suggested that the skeleton, which by then was in a poor condition, should be cleaned and remounted and transfered to his aantomy rooms at Marischal College, but to remain the property of the Society. His wish was granted but four years later Dr Jamieson, Medical Superintendent of the Asylum, requested the return of the skeleton; a deputation visited Marischal College and reported the skeleton in excellent condition, but produced a long letter from professor Struthers describing what he had done, that the bones were now beautifully white but that he still required time to prepare the hands and feet properly. After the lapse of another four years, with Dr Jamieson's anxiety mounting, a resolution that the croc be returned immediately was passed unanimously. After the further lapse of another two years Dr Jamieson had the same motion again passed unanimously. Professor Struthers then offered to pay ten guineas to the Widow's fund of the Society for the "croc", but members said that it was worth £50 (equivalent to £3000 today). A petition to Sheriff Brown ordered Professor Struthers to show reason why the prayer for the return of the crocodile should not be granted. The Professor did not appear in court. The crocodile returned to its home. Dr Struthers resigned from the Society. But his tenacity had not one whit abated. Six years later in 1882 he rejoined, became president, and at an extraordinary meeting of the Society a motion to present the skeleton to the Anatomical Museum was carried by seven votes to six, four declining including Dr Struthers, but Dr Jamieson threatened to resign, two members protested in support and Dr Struthers was induced to withdraw his application. In 1922 Scott Riddell recommended that the skeleton should be presented to the Anatomy Department. In 1939 the skeleton, hitherto tethered to the roof of the library annexe, was removed to the attic of the Society's rooms. In May 1956 the crocodile, without tears or protest from any member of the Society, was presented to the Anatomy department where it stretched its length along the wall, a tribute to the persistence of Sir John in the acquisition of material for his collection.

The crocodile was to remain in the Anatomy Department at Marischal College for almost the next half century. Unfortunately, with the teaching of comparative anatomy to medical students having become a thing of the past, the old croc became increasingly neglected and by the time of the new millennium it had returned to the unsatisfactory condition in which Professor Struthers had found it in 1866.

In 2003 the crocodile was transferred to a more appropriate home, the University Zoology museum. Once again it was thoroughly cleaned, renovated and remounted. The renovation even involved the replacement of a number of missing teeth with excellent replicas made by the Pinewood Dental Laboratory, here in Aberdeen.

* In: The Fusion of 1860.(1963) Ed W. Douglas Simpson. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh