Images Dated 5th August 2005

SEM of bed bugs

Bed bugs mating. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a pair of bed bugs mating. Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius)are blood sucking insects, so called because they live in the beds of humans. Mating in bed bugs (and related families) is unique amongst the insects. The male (above) does not introduce his sperm into the female's vaginal opening. Instead he punctures the body wall of one of the female's abdominal segments and deposits his sperm in a sac. This is called traumatic insemination. Two to four generations can be bred yearly, so that under suitable conditions infestation of a house can occur rapidly. Magnification x10 at 5x7cm size. Magnification: x22 at 6x4.5 inch size

© POWER AND SYRED/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, 1862

Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, 1862. Founded in 1772, the observatory is named after the physician John Radcliffe (1652-1714), a graduate of Oxford University who went on to become Royal Physician to William and Mary. It was built with funds bequeathed by him. This representation of the observatory is from the reverse of the medal of the Johnson Memorial Prize for the advance of astronomy and meteorology founded in 1862 in memory of the astronomer Manuel John Johnson (1805-1859) who was keeper at the observatory from 1839-1859

© Oxford Science Archive / Heritage-Images

Tamar giving birth to Pharez and Sarah, 16th century

Tamar giving birth to Pharez and Sarah, 16th century. Tamar had twins by her father-in-law Judah Pharez (Peres) whose descendants include King David and Jesus of Nazareth and Sarah (Zera). The midwife, an old woman, delivers Sarah while her brother is washed. Tamar is sitting on a birthing stool and is supported by her ladies. At centre front a basket of swaddling bands is ready to wind round the infants. An episode from the Old Testament (Leviticus 18.15), depicted as a lying-in scene in a high status 16th century house

© Oxford Science Archive / Heritage-Images