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| The Dance of the Nematodes |
Some time ago a dear friend and artist Maura Summers produced this work which I called "The Dance of the Nematodes", it reminded me of the little squiggly things I'd first seen when looking down a microscope whilst studying biology with the Open University in the 1980's. I can remember thinking the world is a much bigger place when you take the time to slow down and look. For me Maura's work epitomised the beauty of small things, pick up a handful of organic soil and your probably holding millions of nematodes, some are good.... some are bad, but each has a role in life just like you and me.
The American Nematologist, Nathan Cobb (1859 - 1932), wrote of the Nematode:
"In short, if all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world would still be dimly recognisable, and if, as disembodied spirits, we could then investigate it, we should find its mountains, hills, vales, rivers, lakes, and oceans represented by a film of nematodes. The location of towns would be decipherable, since for every massing of human beings there would be a corresponding massing of certain nematodes. Trees would still stand in ghostly rows representing our streets and highways. The location of the various plants and animals would still be decipherable, and, had we sufficient knowledge, in many cases even their species could be determined by an examination of their erstwhile nematode parasites."
The American Nematologist, Nathan Cobb (1859 - 1932), wrote of the Nematode:
"In short, if all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world would still be dimly recognisable, and if, as disembodied spirits, we could then investigate it, we should find its mountains, hills, vales, rivers, lakes, and oceans represented by a film of nematodes. The location of towns would be decipherable, since for every massing of human beings there would be a corresponding massing of certain nematodes. Trees would still stand in ghostly rows representing our streets and highways. The location of the various plants and animals would still be decipherable, and, had we sufficient knowledge, in many cases even their species could be determined by an examination of their erstwhile nematode parasites."
[Cobb, Nathan (1914)
"Nematodes and their relationships". Yearbook United States Department of
Agriculture. p. 472.]
What will we leave behind in the overall scheme of things? Aa a species are we not parasites too? Taking from this beautiful planet and giving nothing back?
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