[MR] Daisies in Richard Lionheart's... err... Heart!

[Sharon Henderson]

Gentle Cousins,

Oh, the doings of the late and great!  Not only has Richard III been found
in the carpark-buried ruins of Greyfriars, but now this fascinating tidbit
arrives:

http://www.wtop.com/220/3236379/Study-Daisies-sprout-in-King-Richard-Is-heart

The headline isn't QUITE accurate, as a quick read will show; traces of
daisy seed and other items were found in the now-powdered remains of the
King's heart, which was removed from his body after death and interred in a
lead casket in Rouen:

"PARIS (AP) -- King Richard I, the 12th-century warrior whose bravery
during the Third Crusade gained him the moniker Lionheart, ended up with a
heart full of daisies, as well as myrtle, mint and frankincense.

Those were among the findings of a French study, announced Thursday, which
analyzed the embalmed heart of the English king more than 810 years after
he died.

The biomedical analysis also uncovered less flowery and spicy elements like
creosote, mercury and perhaps lime in the heart, which has been in the
western French city of Rouen since his death in 1199...."

There is a photograph of a microscopic pic of some of the powder, magnified
many times.  The article is short but fascinating!  Cooks take note: the
article says that the first embalmers in the West were probably cooks,
which makes sense.  If anyone knows how to track down the publication,
please share?  The article says only that "The study was published in
Scientific Reports, part of the Nature Publishing Group."

Lazing on a Thursday afternoon,
Meli