Hard Collection (page 7)

Crystal balls are produced by grinding and polishing quartz (silicon dyoxide) cystal into spheres

Natural ruby in marble
From the mines of Mogok in Burma (Myanmar). Ruby is the red variety of the mineral corundum with small impurities of chromium that turn it red

Microchiroptera (suborder), microbat
Photograph of the left side view of the skull of a microbat, measuring 4cm, with its relatively short snout and lower jaw

Acronychia laevis, hard aspen
Finished watercolour by Fred Polydore Nodder from an original outine drawing by Sydney Parkinson made during Captain James Cooks first voyage across the Pacific, 1768-1771

Ursus speleaus, great cave bear
Fig. 28 from A History of British Fossil Mammals and Birds, by Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892), published in 12 parts, 1844-1846

Geochelone carbonaria, red-footed tortoise

Plate 97 from the John Reeves Collection (Zoology)

Corundum group
A collection of crystals including ruby and sapphire particolor, ruby rhomboid, and hexagonal cut sapphire

Pteropus livingstonii, Comoro black flying fox
Photograph showing view from above and left side of two Comoro black flying fox, or Livingstones flying fox, skull specimens

Sarcophilus laniarius, Tasmanian devil
Jaw of a Tasmanian devil from the collections at the Natural History Museum

Amblyomma sp. hard backed tick
Scanning electron microscope view of a hard backed tick from the family Ixodidae. Coloured artificially on computer

Procyon lotor, common raccoon
The right side of a common raccoon skull specimen, held at the Natural History Museum. Phototgraph published on page 250 of the Dorling Kindersley Nature Encyclopedia, 1998. See also 28779

Mounted tortoise specimen
Photograph of a mounted tortoise specimen from the collections of the Natural History Museum, London

Bornite
A specimen of the mineral Bornite. This specimen is from the collections held at the Natural History Museum, London

Anhydrite
A specimen of the mineral anhydrite (calcium sulphate) from the Simplon tunnel through the Alps which links Switzerland to Italy

A selection of topaz cut stones
Topaz is the hardest silicate mineral and comprises of (aluminum silicate fluoride hydroxide)

Birthstone Series: Tanzanite
A specimen of tanzanite, from the Natural History Museum, London. Tanzanite is the birthstone for the month of December (along with Zircon and Turquoise). Photographed by Harry Taylor

Kogia breviceps, pygmy sperm whale
Photograph of the skull of a pygmy sperm whale

Glyptodon clavipes, giant armadillo
Extinct herbivore that died out about 10, 000 years ago on display in the Central Hall at The Natural History Museum, London. The Glyptodon was named by Sir Richard Owen in 1839

Cocos nucifera, coconut tree
Plate 69 from Neilgherry birds and Miscellaneous (1858) by Margaret Bushby Lascelles Cockburn (1829-1928)

Bos taurus, cattle
Jaw bone and teeth of the Chillingham breed of cattle. Specimen held at the Natural History Museum, London

Sweetite
A Specimen from the collections held at the Natural History Museum, London from Milltown, Ashover, Derbyshire

Felis silvestris, cat
Photograph of the left view of a domestic cat skull from the education collection at the Natural History Museum at Tring, part of the Natural History Museum, London

Oryctolagus cuniculus, European rabbit
Photograph of the left side view of a European rabbit skull from the education collection at the Natural History Museum at Tring, part of the Natural History Museum, London

Sapphire crystal
Sapphire is a blue variety of corundum, which is the second hardest natural substance known on Earth. Specimen originates from Olberg, Rheinland, now at the Natural History Museum, London

Ruby is a variety of corundum, which is the second hardest natural substance known on Earth. Specimen is originally from Aust-Agder, Norway, and is now on display at the Natural History Museum, London

Orange sapphire
A rare Sri-Lankan hexagonal cut orange sapphire. Sapphires belong to the corundum group - the second hardest mineral group known

Zaedyus pichiy, pichi armadillo
Pichi armadillo collected by Charles Darwin at Bahia Blanca, Argentina, 1833 (formerly Daspus minutus)

Testudo graeca, spur-thighed tortoise
Photograph of what is probably a spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) specimen collected by Gilbert White (1720-93)

Dendroaspis angusticeps, green mamba
Photograph of the skull of a green mamba, showing the snakes upper jaw fangs

Lonsdaleia, coral
Shown here is the Carboniferous coral, Lonsdaleia. Corals comprise a soft bodied animal called a polyp. Each polyp inhabits a calcareous skeleton called a corallum

Throne of Tutankhamun. ca. 1340 BC. Back of the throne depicting Queen Ankhesenamun putting the finishing touches to the kings toilet. Tutankhamuns Treasure

Leg rowers - Inle Lake - Leg rowers three at front, two at back, hard to photograph as they are going faster than our outboard. Date: 1952

town view - Moulmein
Town view - Moulmein - Town strung along river, backed by hills. No big ships can come up the shallow Salween River with its rip tides. Hard to see how the people support themselves. Date: 1951

Rice - threshing floor - Rangoon -.about 50 feet square, we could see what they had been watering down carefully yesterday afternoon, was cow dung, smooth and hard as cement. Date: 1952

A hard baby to bring up

Soldier of the Royal Guard. Ancient dress not yet entirely obsolete - Coat & helmet are lined with a mail of hard leather - & studded with iron buttons

A hard game of follow your leader

Hard lines. Illustration shows two businessmen sitting in an office discussing the success of the local trolley service. Date 1904 January 27

A hard job with the hogs. Illustration shows President Cleveland as a pig farmer getting tangled in leashes attached to the hind legs of several hogs, each with a distinctive brand

Marrying for Love or for Money
" Either Choice is Painful" If I marry for love I am poor, if I marry for Money I lose out on true love. This German gentleman is suffering a severe emotional quandry on this issue

Seeley s. Hard rubber. Trusses

An American pineapple, of the kind the Axis finds hard to digest, is ready to leave the hand of an infantryman in training at Fort Belvoir, Va. American soldiers make good grenade throwers

C. & NW RR, Mrs. Dorothy Lucke, employed as a wiper at the roundhouse, Clinton, Iowa. Date 1943 April. C. & NW RR, Mrs. Dorothy Lucke, employed as a wiper at the roundhouse, Clinton, Iowa

Worker at carbon black plant, Sunray, Texas. Date 1942

Don t flinch, don t foul, hit the line hard!. Illustration shows a Naval Line Officer crashing through a window at the White House where he has been booted out; a small dog observes from the ground

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