The 19th Century History Museum Display That Woke Up After 4 Years
A seemingly dead item on display in a British museum woke up after four years, much to the surprise of staff
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Museums are filled with all sorts of artifacts and curios that tell the story of our cultures and history. With rare exception, the items in these displays are usually inanimate objects and/or the remains of things long deceased. A notable exception occurred in the 19th century when a museum discovered that an item they had glued to an exhibit card for four years had been alive all along.
Founded in 1753, the British Museum is one of the longest-standing examples of its kind, accumulating and displaying vast troves of natural and historical treasures. In 1846, a lawyer named Charles Lamb, Esq. embarked on a lengthy trip on which he collected an example of a Helix desertorum snail in Egypt and brought it back so those in England could see the magnificent creature. The staff took the small seemingly dead snail and glued the shell to a piece of cardboard so it could be added to a display case.
Instead of the snail being dead, it had actually retreated deep into the recesses of its shell and entered a deep state of sleep. Four years after it had been affixed to a display board, a zoologist named William Baird came in one morning and noticed that not only had the snail apparently moved, there was a visible trail of dampness leading from its original position. The obvious answer appeared to be that it had never died and had somehow survived half a decade stuck in place.
After the snail was given a gentle bath, sure enough, it stuck its head out of its shell, confirming it was indeed a latter day mollusk Lazarus. It was speculated that the last time it had been actively living was back in the Egyptian desert. The museum staff fed it some cabbage leaves, which it picked at eagerly and obviously preferred to other vegetables offered like lettuce.
Canadian writer Grant Allen later described the surreal situation:
“The Museum authorities accordingly ordered our friend a warm bath (who shall say hereafter that science is unfeeling!), upon which the grateful snail, waking up at the touch of the familiar moisture, put his…
