Two exciting developments can be reported: the launch of the Foundations of Modern Genetics project by the Wellcome Library, and a new accession of Maurice Wilkins material at King's College.
The soft launch of the new Wellcome Library site has taken place - the site includes an exciting new media player that allows users to view books and archive documents and zoom into details. Further developments and addition of new content is ongoing prior to the formal launch of the site in spring 2013. Visit the Wellcome site for more information: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/about-us/projects/digitisation/foundations-of-modern-genetics-project/
Yesterday we took custody of a new accession of material from Maurice Wilkins' family, including books, some original notebooks predating his DNA studies, photographs of his social and political work, including CND and disarmament rallies, and some original equipment and artefacts and X-ray diffraction images dating from the early 1950s. The new accession is a reminder that much valuable material relating to the history of groundbreaking DNA and genetics research remains to be discovered and made available to researchers. We will keep you posted with more detail on the contents of the new accession as repackaging and listing takes place.
C-configuration of DNA
"The X-ray studies show that DNA molecules are remarkable in that they adopt a large number of different conformations, most of which can exist in several crystal forms (Wilkins, p139 Nobel Prize Lecture)"
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| Title page of typescript showcasing new conformation of DNA (ref: K/PP178/2/78) |
Molecules can have the same chemical structure but can be arranged with a different structure. The different three-dimensional structure affects how the molecule behaves. DNA is no exception: In the later stages of the DNA work, 1952-1953, A and B DNA configuration showed similar properties through the respective x-ray diffraction patterns, however the B-DNA conformation always showed a clearer helical configuration. These observed variations moved the research work away from focusing on a purely helical structure.
The different conformations of the DNA molecules were due to the various crystal forms produced using various different salts of DNA. In the case of the C-configuration of DNA the conformation was obtained using a lithium DNA salt. Whilst, the B-configuration of DNA represented the DNA Double Helix that is present within living cells these new configurations were still important for the structural research undertaken on DNA as Wilkins explained in his Nobel Prize speech:
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| C-form DNA (ref: K/PP178/2/78) |
‘Comparison of the forms provides further confirmation of the correctness of the structures. In a way, the problem is like trying to deduce the structure of a folding chair by observing its shadow: if the conformation of the chair is altered slightly, its structure becomes more evident.’ (Wilkins, p139)
The C-configuration has a 9 ⅓ nucleotide pair per turn compared to the B-configuration with 10 ½ nucleotides per turn. Both are a semi-crystalline structure showing clear helical packing and therefore the two are very similar compared to the crystalline A-configuration. However, whilst B-configuration is found in nature the C-configuration was an artefact formed by the drying process.
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| C-form DNA (ref: K/PP178/2/78) |
To read more about the C-configuration of DNA and the later research on the structure of DNA undertaken by the KCL Biophysics Department, you can visit the Wellcome Digital Library where this file along with many others have been digitised and is freely available online here.
Raymond Gosling: Flickr set dedicated to PhD thesis, 'X-ray diffraction studies of Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid '
Following the successful digitisation
of Raymond Gosling's PhD thesis, 'X-ray diffraction studies of Deoxyribose
Nucleic Acid' I have added a few of the images onto the project’s Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51665752@N04/sets/72157631533614623/ .
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| (KDBP/5/1) |
As I have already stated in the previous
posts, Gosling was a vital worker in the King's effort to solve the structure
of DNA. His PhD provides an excellent record of the experimental work going on
at King’s - not only in terms of x-ray diffraction crystallography on the
Signer DNA but the initial diffraction studies on sperm heads; the microscope-based
work occurring simultaneously on nucleic acids and descriptions of model
building, theoretic analysis of data and apparatus design are also described.
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| (KDBP/5/1) |
The source, from an archival perspective, is
‘visually exciting’. Scientific records tend to be fairly cryptic with significance often hidden within the text or captured
in a graph or table. The photographic prints within the thesis give a clear
linear progression of the diffraction pattern that were being obtained at
King’s. Broadly speaking, it is possible to see the improvement of images as
the old x-ray equipment was discarded for the finer focus camera and x-ray tube
and the presence of an expert crystallographer, in the form of Rosalind
Franklin at the helm.
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| Front cover of Raymond Gosling's PhD thesis (KDBP/5/1) |
You can now access for free Raymond Gosling's thesis, via the Wellcome Digital Library- here. You can also search for other digital material relating to Raymond Gosling and other King's DNA workers via the Wellcome Library catalogue, as well as access collections from other archives relating to the history of modern genetics.
Raymond Gosling: Visit to King's Archives
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of
meeting Professor Raymond Gosling as he came into the Archives to be
interviewed for a Swedish documentary on genetics. He
was very talkative and full of insights into that crucial 1950-1953 period when
the King’s Biophysics Unit were working on the
structure of DNA. What was so refreshing about talking to him was not
only his enthusiasm for the subject but his even-handed approach. Having worked
with both Franklin and Wilkins at different stages of the project he gave a fair and independent analysis of their fractured
relationship.
In the discussion with Gosling he
emphasised the significance of the early x-ray photographs in kick-starting the
hunt for the structure, and unintentionally spurring on the ‘race’ with its
public unveiling at the Naples conference (1951). As well as describing the
impressive character of the Biophysics Unit pioneered by Sir John Randall, he
was aware that the time was ripe for the discovery of the structure of DNA and
that several institutions around the world could have claimed it.
Below, is a video clip of Professor Gosling taking about the discovery of DNA at King's in the 1950s, as part of the London Science Festival, on the 21st October 2011.
The
diffraction pattern that Gosling refers to in the video is not the one shown in the video,
which for those eagle-eyed readers out there is 'Photo 51'. Gosling was
discussing the 1950 multi-fibre crystalline DNA
pattern he produced with Wilkins and was the image shown at the Naples
Conference in May 1951. Here is the correct image:
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| X-ray diffraction image of DNA using the Raymax tube and Unicam camera, 1950 (ref: K/PP178/6/5/1) |
The research papers relating to Raymond Gosling's work on DNA can now be accessed online via the Wellcome Digital Library. You can find out what other material available online via the Wellcome Library catalogue.
Raymond Gosling: Not just an extraordinary envoy
Raymond Gosling was one of the key workers on DNA at King's during the
period that became immortalised as the 'Race for the Double Helix'. His achievements have been eclipsed by the personality clash between Rosalind Franklin and
Maurice Wilkins. Gosling’s own role as the rift developed became that of "an
Envoy Extraordinary and diplomatically carrying the
"sense" of messages between them". However, there was much more to Gosling's
role than acting as a courier between the two parties and the next three posts
will be dedicated to his role at King's.
In the papers of Maurice Wilkins and those of the department of Biophysics Department are correspondence, articles, a PhD thesis, photographs and the diffraction patterns that Gosling produced with both Wilkins and Franklin. All these images have been selected for digitisation and this post contains a few samples of the type of material the collection holds.
One of our oldest pieces is a postcard sent to Wilkins from Gosling while on his honeymoon in 1950. His honeymoon consisted of touring Italy on his motorbike. Recently, I discovered that Wilkins, too, used to get lifts on the back of his motorbike after late nights working on x-ray diffraction experiments in the summer of 1950. Wilkins described this as “rather scary” but “enjoyed his hilarious time together” with Gosling.
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| (ref: K/PP178/3/12) |
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| (K/PP178/3/12) |
The experimental biophysics work that King's has become known for in the
solving of the structure of DNA was X-ray diffraction and Gosling's importance
is undisputed. Gosling was the first to apply x-ray diffraction techniques on
nucleic material at King's with the study of ram sperm heads in 1950. Later
that year Gosling moved on to looking at DNA specimens and Wilkins brought him the calf thymus DNA donated by Rudolf Signer. The two
began to collaborate and managed through innovation and some luck to
produce a crystalline multi-fibre diffraction pattern
of DNA that proved to be the breakthrough required to show that the structure
of DNA was a feasible proposition. Soon afterwards new equipment and an expert
crystallographer, in the shape of Rosalind Franklin, were brought in and
Gosling was handed over to be Franklin's assistant. Gosling and Franklin made
great strides and soon discovered through Franklin's control of the humidity
levels that DNA occurred in two phases,
called Structure A and B, and that this change could be reversible. This
observation was followed up with further deductions based on the effect of
water content on both structures. Whilst the rift within the lab affected
joint efforts, Gosling and Franklin did go on to produce a three dimensional Patterson
function of Structure A DNA, the data from
which helped to prove the correctness of the Watson-Crick model.
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| Early calf thymus x-ray diffraction pattern produced by Raymond Gosling, 1950 (ref: K/PP178/5/1/1 Copyright: King's College London) |
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| X-ray diffraction patterns of Structure A and B from Franklin & Gosling's article in Acta Crystallographica, ' The Structure of
Sodium Thymonucleate Fibres. I. The Influence of Water Content', 1953 (ref: K/PP178/2/28 copyright: Please contact King's College London Archive Service) |
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| Some Recollections of DNA Studies in the Biophysics Laboratories at King's College. (ref: KPP178/5/6) |
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| Some Recollections of DNA Studies in the Biophysics Laboratories at King's College.(ref: KPP178/5/6) |
For Gosling, this period at King's could be broken down into four stages: firstly, the preliminary work around DNA before x-ray diffraction studies began and culminated in the first good crystalline pattern; secondly, the arrival of Franklin and the observation of two phases , Structure A and B, in DNA; thirdly, the interpretation of water content within the specimen and finally the ‘schism’ between Franklin and Wilkins.
In his
concluding remarks, Gosling notes that it was his belief that Franklin never wholeheartedly believed that the structure was other than helical, despite giving that impression to Wilkins and Stokes.
Perhaps the most telling observation is the following:
"If only Rosalind and Maurice had
not been such shy people they might have been able to cooperate well in spite
of their different views on how to set about solving the structure of
DNA".
You can read the full account of Raymond Gosling's reflections on his DNA work at King's via the Wellcome Digital Library- here.
Not another conference: A letter from Sir Nevill Mott on the proliferation of anti-nuclear disarmament splinter groups
While trawling through the papers relating to political
activism it is difficult it is difficult to keep track of the myriad political groups and bodies that crop up - for instance, the many different groups campaigning
against nuclear disarmament in the 1970s and 1980s: While groups like CND and
Pugwash are fairly well known, there are much smaller less familiar groups, such as
Scientists against Nuclear Arms (SANA), Medical Campaign Against Nuclear
Weapons (MCANW), World Disarmament Campaign, Teachers for Peace,
Nuclear Warfare Tribunal - and this doesn't include campaigns run by broader spectrum
organisations such as Food and Disarmament International (FDI) and World
Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW). In a word: confusing.
However, it seems I was not alone in finding it difficult to
navigate the various groups, as this letter to Wilkins from physicist Sir Nevill Mott
attests.
Sir Nevill was
dubious about attending a conference on nuclear disarmament for fear of “unstructured waffle”. He explains: “I think the invitation put me off. They don’t
say what their foundation is, what its first conference achieved, when it
begins, what the real objectives are, who’s funding it.” Mott’s opinions were seemingly coloured by a
recent experience at a local group meeting organised by a Vicar in a nearby parish where he was surprised by the attendance of hard-line CND. He states: “I was very repelled- they would not think
about practical ways of stopping the arms race, no first use, oppose star wars-
but just paraded their consciences for 2 weary hours”.
This is not to cast aspersions on the importance of these
causes, or on to scientists like Maurice Wilkins, who was actively involved in
many. As I have previously posted, the campaign to investigate the work done within
the Microbiological Research Establishment at Porton Down led by the “Conference
on Chemical and Biological Warfare” or the awareness campaign on the poison gas
attack on the Kurds by Iraq by the International Scientists’ Congress were
admirable feats. There are many more examples that will be included in the
digitised papers of Maurice Wilkins and hopefully not many examples of “unstructured
waffle”!
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| A flyer for a Greenwich CND meeting from 1981: Maurice Wilkins was an active member of his local branch and gave many talks on the dangers of nuclear weapons across the country. |
Digitising X-rays: the digitisation of the Biophysics collection
In this week’s post, I discuss some of the digitisation aspects of the project with special reference to the work of one of our digitisation contractors, MAX (previously MAX COMMUNCATIONS,) who digitised 4,000 of the glass and acetate material.
In October 2011, two of the digitisers from Max Ltd visited the archives in order to familiarise themselves with the collection and carry out some test scanning. The material was quite diverse: photographic prints, x-ray acetates, various sizes of glass plate negatives, folded negative rolls and 35mm mounted slides. The majority of this material required external specialists with the required expertise and equipment to undertake the scanning. A small test file was created composed of quarter plate glass negatives and x-ray acetates and sent to the Wellcome for approval. Both Iain Stringer, who would go on to digitise the collection, and David Cordery, head of Max Ltd, have prior professional experience of working with glass plate and acetate x-ray collections at various institutions around the UK and we were fully confident of their ability to handle the fragile items and successfully scan them. The test images that were sent to the Wellcome were approved and scanning commenced in December 2011.
The images were scanned at 300 dpi (dots per inch) at 8-bit (bit rate) RGB (Red Green Blue) using an Epsom V750 Pro scanner. This type of flatbed scanner is reliable and fast and from a preservation perspective, the scanner was suitable for digitising the x-ray acetates as the two- inch gap between the bed of the scanner and the top scanner head meant that it did not press onto the x-rays and so would not cause any further damage to the x-rays afflicted with vinegar syndrome (vinegar syndrome occurs when an acetate degrades and begins to oxidise creating a vinegar smell. The surface often begins to warp and crack and this eventually affects the emulsion. Unfortunately the process is irreversible and it is why digitisation is one of the most effective ways of preserving an accessible copy of the item.)
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| An example of an X-ray acetate diffraction image from the collection. The sleeve caption information has been added to the image. This diffraction image was taken by Wilkins around 1953-1955 and the likely source of the DNA originated from human subjects supplied by Leonard Hamilton and Ralph Barclay of the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. |
I asked Iain to tell me about his experience scanning our material compared to his previous experience with similar collections. He said that the plates, in terms of general condition, were some of the best that he has worked with as hardly any were chipped or broken. The only slight issue that he encountered was that some of the slides were mounted with red strips, the adhesive of which had begun to seep and caused them to attach themselves to their transparent sleeves. In such cases, he therefore had to carefully remove the slide from its sleeve. This required a degree of perseverance, depending on the age and location of the adhesive strips on the slide.
Regarding the x-ray acetates, I had assumed that this material would be trickier to scan considering the conditions that some of them were in. Iain surprised me by saying that for the purposes of scanning they were quicker to scan than the glass plates. Whilst care had to be taken in handling small, fragile and brittle objects like deteriorating x-ray acetates, the most time consuming element of scanning an x-ray was the post-production.
MAX Ltd provided us with images in three formats: the raw TIFF original file, the enhanced TIFF amended file and a JPEG file. While enhancing an image can be difficult with regard to obtaining an authentic copy of the original, in a situation where the original is difficult to discern, post-production ‘clean up’ is necessary. The majority of the x-ray acetates retained a degree of visible content and by using Adobe Photoshop post production, it made it easier to enhance the original pattern of the x-ray and compensate for some of the surface damage caused by any deterioration.
Finally, I asked Iain what he thought of the acetate and glass material as a whole. He said:
“ I found the material quite interesting…I’ve learnt more about DNA than I have since school,, good thing about my job that I don’t have to concentrate on one specific thing. X-rays of DNA, diffraction, very interesting. They would definitely make a good print, stretched over a canvas, especially one of the really clear ones like ‘Photo 51’”
I agreed, diffraction patterns such as ‘Photo 51’ are visually striking though I personally am more in awe about the crystalline A-form DNA pictures as there is something rather mesmerising about the symmetry of these patterns. You can judge for yourself however, as these two x-ray patterns are shown below.
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| A-form DNA |
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| B-form DNA |
Will the archives of the future be made of the strand of DNA?
The prospect of combining archives and DNA feels like a plotline of a Twilight Zone episode. What's exciting however is that it is a distinct possibility. The Guardian have just released a story about the DNA inscription of a book ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/aug/16/book-written-dna-code) initially reported in the US journal, Science. The book composed of 53,000 words includes eleven images and a computer program. The 5.27 megabit collection of data created over several days was produced by Professor George Church of Harvard Medical School.
The method they used, in principle, was the same as digital inscription: encoding all the book information into a binary sequence. The DNA base pairs in this case representing 1's and 0's with Arginine (‘A’) and Cytosine (‘C’) representing zero, and Guanine (‘G’) and Tyrosine (‘T’) representing one. The team developed a system in which an inkjet printer embeds short fragments of artificially synthesized DNA onto a glass chip. Each DNA fragment contains a digital address code that denotes location within the original fiDNAle.
What makes DNA such a brilliant medium for storage is its data storage with estimates suggesting a gram of DNA can store 455 billion gigabytes. The data is easily readable and copied and maintains its stability for several thousand years.
The possibilities are fantastic. To put this in perspective, most digital formats require an upgrade after five years with physical data storage such as DVDs having, at most, a twenty year life span. This is because of the constant change in informational software packages within sturdy digital formats, such as TIFFs and PDFs having 10-15 year maximum life span. A DNA code sequence is therefore more desirable than a digital approximate, but neverless it is an exciting development and will potentially rival the paper record revolution in record keeping. This is an exciting archival perspective.
As a cataloguer and digitiser of the DNA related material of the Kings college London archive such a development is one of a personal joy. It would feel wonderfully apt to have the papers charting the discovery of the structure of DNA are encoded into DNA for future generations.
The method they used, in principle, was the same as digital inscription: encoding all the book information into a binary sequence. The DNA base pairs in this case representing 1's and 0's with Arginine (‘A’) and Cytosine (‘C’) representing zero, and Guanine (‘G’) and Tyrosine (‘T’) representing one. The team developed a system in which an inkjet printer embeds short fragments of artificially synthesized DNA onto a glass chip. Each DNA fragment contains a digital address code that denotes location within the original fiDNAle.
What makes DNA such a brilliant medium for storage is its data storage with estimates suggesting a gram of DNA can store 455 billion gigabytes. The data is easily readable and copied and maintains its stability for several thousand years.
The possibilities are fantastic. To put this in perspective, most digital formats require an upgrade after five years with physical data storage such as DVDs having, at most, a twenty year life span. This is because of the constant change in informational software packages within sturdy digital formats, such as TIFFs and PDFs having 10-15 year maximum life span. A DNA code sequence is therefore more desirable than a digital approximate, but neverless it is an exciting development and will potentially rival the paper record revolution in record keeping. This is an exciting archival perspective.
As a cataloguer and digitiser of the DNA related material of the Kings college London archive such a development is one of a personal joy. It would feel wonderfully apt to have the papers charting the discovery of the structure of DNA are encoded into DNA for future generations.
August Project Update
The project is entering its final months and a quick update as it what has been happening is in order:
To date, 24,000 images have been produced by our digitisers which roughly breaks down as 4000 glass plate and acetate images and 20,000 images from the paper collection. Over the next two months the remaining part of the paper collection will be scanned. Sections that have already been scanned include papers from Wilkins’ early life, scientific working papers, correspondence with scientific colleagues, papers associated with the history of the research on DNA and sections of his autobiography.
Above, is a low resolution copy of some of the images that are being produced. The example is a postcard received by Maurice Wilkins from Francis Crick dated May 1955 and sent from Paris. The postcard reads: "Having a lovely time telling people about your work and my ideas! Hoping to see you in Cambridge for a quiet weekend - Francis".
Our main tasks over the next few months involve the construction of metadata and copyright and sensitivity checking. The latter is the most time consuming as a detailed survey requires a systematic check of all potentially risky material. Our catalogue descriptions are written at a level to summarize the contents of the physical file but because the images will be accessible individually an item level approach to sensitivity and copyright is needed to be certain that legally and ethically all necessary precautions are taken before publishing on-line. Needless to say this process is time-consuming and has proved to be the most taxing element of the project.
Apart from the construction of metadata and the sensitivity checking the only other main strand of the project to update everyone with is outreach. The project continues to gather interest from its social media sites (like the one I’m writing on now). Besides the blogs, the project has had a presence on Twitter and new images have been added to the project’s Flickr site. In May, the archives participated in a Radio 4 piece on the Wellcome Digital Library which was reported previously on this blog. Alongside this, we were privileged to have been visited by Raymond Gosling in March as part of a television documentary. It was wonderful to meet a contemporary of Wilkins and Franklin and hear from one of the key workers his own experience working at King’s at the time. We are quite fortunate to have a copy of Gosling's original 1954 PhD thesis, titled ''X-ray diffraction studies of Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid' which has been selected to be digitised as part of the King's College London Biophysics collection.
New Flickr set of Digitised Glass Plate Images
A new Flickr gallery showing some of the images that have been included in our current digitisation project is now available. The images have been selected from the glass plate negative series (KDBP/1/1) which contain a number of images documenting x-ray diffraction and other physical studies into DNA. The series dating from 1949 to 1984 contains significant landmark diffraction patterns of DNA including early crystalline A-and semi-crystalline B-forms in particularly 'Photo 51' created by Rosalind Franklin. Along with x-ray patterns there are also model representations of the structure and graphical representations of the King's team's findings.
The new Flickr set can be found in the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51665752@N04/sets/72157630717145856/
The new Flickr set can be found in the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51665752@N04/sets/72157630717145856/
KCL and the Foundations of Modern Genetics: The Library of Maurice Wilkins: Part 2
KCL and the Foundations of Modern Genetics: The Library of Maurice Wilkins: Part 2: In this second instalment regarding the personal library of Maurice Wilkins, I have selected a number of books from the collection and ...
The library of Maurice Wilkins
“A personal library is an X-ray of the owner’s
soul. It offers keys to a particular temperament, an intellectual disposition,
a way of being in the world. Even how the books are arranged on the shelves
deserves notice, even reflection. There is probably no such thing as complete
chaos in such arrangements.”
- Jay Parini,
American writer and academic (b 1948-)
As part of the acquisition of Maurice Wilkins personal papers for the King’s College London archives, the family also donated an extensive part of his private library. This generous gift contains a plethora of non-fictional material ranging from his scientific career in biophysics to later work in nuclear disarmament. The collection, consisting of books, booklets, pamphlets and journal articles, can be found within the Archives Reading Room in the Strand Building and occupies ten shelves. As the above quotation states, a personal library can be a window to the owner’s soul and the Wilkins library collection certainly conveys a sense of Wilkins’ range of interests.
The collection contains journal articles and leaflets from a number of publications. Some relate to his scientific career with off-prints from the Journal of Molecular Biology, while others reveal his interest in the relationship between art and science. Also included are a series of annual booklets from the Nobel Prize organisation, listing prize winners.
The published books cover a diverse number of subjects but can be broken down into the following categories:
Science: life sciences, genetics, physics and biographical material
History: mainly the history of science, but also of ancient Greece, the Renaissance and the political and scientific history of the twentieth century
Psychology and Philosophy: psychoanalysis and how the mind works, also alternative therapies and eastern philosophy, in particular the practice of yoga
Anti-nuclear: relating to the anti-nuclear movement, disarmament, nuclear conflict.
Anyone for Vegetarian Athletics?
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| The Vegetarian Brothers |
Whilst, trawling through the autobiographical section of the personal papers of Maurice Wilkins I came across a remarkable pamphlet,"Vegetarian Athletics (What they prove and disprove)" by Henry Light, produced by the Vegetarian Society, features the semi-naked vegetarian wrestling champions, S V and E H Bacon mid-bout.
The pamphlet was part of the collected papers of Edgar Wilkins, Maurice's father, who was himself a committed vegetarian and keen exerciser. Trained as a doctor at Trinity College Dublin, he later concentrated on public health and preventative medicine and had a life long interest in the effects of diet and exercise on health. His papers were collected as part of Maurice Wilkins' autobiographical research, originally to provide the reader with a framework of how family characteristics were passed down through the generations.
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| In the first page of 'Vegetarian Athletics', Henry Light dispels the myth that vegetarians can "merely exist" but can be lusty and thrive. He states that there is a "great paucity of vegetarian athletes as compared with the innumerable host of flesh-eaters in the land, and thus realise that the numerical odds against us are analogous to those of a small village pitted against the entire nation. How often should we expect that little village to win? Once in a thousand years perhaps. Yet we vegetarian, competing for scarcely more than a thousand weeks, have secured amongst our innumerable triumphs the following formidable list of WORLD and NATIONAL RECORDS and CHAMPIONSHIPS [followed by a list of athletes and their achievements]" |
The twelve page pamphlet makes interesting reading not only through its content but its wonderful use of language especially when describing non-vegetarians as "flesh-eaters" or lines such as "before coming a vegetarian he was an epileptic". It provides examples from recent times of world and national record holding vegetarian athletes similar to the wrestling brothers on the front. In some cases it provides a detailed break down of their diet such as Eustace Davies, mountain climber:
"Whilst training, except when visiting friends, his food consisted chiefly of:
Breakfast: Bread and butter, hot milk, potato, green salad and oil, and sometimes an egg.
Lunch and dinner: Cheese, Bread, butter, potatos, green salad and oil, milk-pudding, and stewed fruit and cream.
The food used during the performance itself was principally of a liquid nature. For the first ten hours it was egg and milk. Thereafter milk and soda, lemon water, some tea and egg, and once or twice milky tea at inns in the valleys. Also stewed fruit and cream and milk pudding at three places; and two oranges."
Davies was quoted by the author saying: "I owe you a great debt of gratitude; your advice was acted upon in toto, and I do not know of any other system of feeding on which I could have done the trick".
The pamphlet is interspersed with general advice on the merits and practicalities of vegetarianism and also the initial difficulties a former "flesh-eating" athlete might encounter when he first switches to vegetarianism. Henry Light at one point warns: "Before starting on a vegetarian system of living, one should be thoroughly convinced not only of its superior ethical value but its practicability, and be thoroughly determined after starting, for the mind has so great an influence over the body that the slightest wavering or doubt usually spells failure, and failure of course brings discredit upon the cause and oneself".
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KCL Archives has a new blog for all your DNA archives digitisation needs
King's College London Archives have started a new blog based on our digitisation of the papers of Maurice Wilkins and the Biophysics Department. This project is part of the Wellcome Digital Library initiative to bring together historically significant collections relating to "Modern Genetics and its Foundations". More about the project can be read on the site's first blog post: http://kclfoundationsofmoderngenetics.blogspot.com/2012/03/digitisation-of-papers-of-maurice.html
Thanks again to all those who have read and enjoyed this blog site. We hope that the new blog will be an interesting read as well and will continue to mine the archives for interesting stories and images relating to the the discovery of DNA.
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