100 Years Ago

W. B. Brierley protests against the practice of mycologists in describing as species the forms which are presented to them in Nature or as pathological growths, especially on cultivated plants … But the laboratory and field experience of the experimentalist shows that under changes in the environment the whole structure and facies of the organism may be transformed, while under identical conditions there is considerable evidence that the morphological variation of a particular fungus is definite and constant … Two precisely similar fungi growing on a potato and a decaying tree stump respectively may really be different species, though the systematic mycologist would consider them identical … The only exact method of determining species is by means of quantitative data derived from cultural treatment under standardised physico-chemical conditions, for this method alone reveals the physiological condition of the organism.

From Nature 26 February 1920

150 Years Ago

The trial of the Pyx is the formal testing of the coin of the realm, to ensure its being of the requisite weight and fineness. The name is derived from the Pyx, or chest, in which the coins selected for the purpose are contained. The first trial of the Pyx took place in the ninth and tenth years of Edward I. And as the last observance of this ancient ceremony was held during the past week, a few brief notes may not be without interest … The court now consists of several members of the Privy Council, under the presidency of the Lord High Chancellor and a jury selected from the Hon. Company of Goldsmiths. Last week the high officers of the Mint assembled at the Treasury, and in their presence the Lord Chancellor charged the jury to examine the coin of the late Master of the Mint, Thomas Graham, F.R.S., and to ascertain whether it was within the latitude of “remedy” allowed by law. This remedy amounts to 12 grains on each troy pound of gold coin … In the present instance … the verdict of the jury being, that the coin both as to weight and fineness was within the remedy.

From Nature 24 February 1870