Fossil wood collected by Charles Darwin

BGS image ID: P776114

This microscope slide shows a piece of fossil wood that Charles Darwin collected from the Island of Chiloe, Chile in 1834 during his voyage in HMS Beagle. It became part of the Joseph D Hooker slide collection.

Darwin wrote about Chiloe:

"In winter the climate is detestable, and in summer it is only a little better. I should think there are few parts of the world within the temperate regions where so much rain falls."

Andrew L Morrison