The Annotated Old Fourlegs. The updated story of the coelacanth, by Mike Bruton

The Annotated Old Fourlegs. The updated story of the coelacanth by Mike Bruton. Penguin Random House South Africa, Struik Nature. Cape Town, South Africa 2017. ISBN 9781775844990 / ISBN 978-1-77-584499-0

Mike Bruton's The Annotated Old Fourlegs includes a facsimile reprint of the original book, with notes and images that provide an interesting and revealing commentary on Professor JLB Smith's text.

Mike Bruton  

I first read Old Fourlegs as a teenager living in East London, where the first coelacanth was caught in December 1938. By the time I was 10 years old I had gazed in wonder at the first specimen on display in the East London Museum and also met the extraordinary Curator of the museum, Miss (later Dr) Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer. My first meeting with the formidable Professor Smith took place in the old Department of Ichthyology building at Rhodes University in Grahamstown in 1966, when I was a first-year student and he was 69 years old. He was a stern man who led a spartan life with all the trivialities trimmed away so that he could focus his energy on fishes. When I first managed to penetrate the formidable barrier of women 'protectors', led by his wife Margaret, I asked him a number of questions about fishes that he answered politely, and I then took my leave. Not once during our discussion did he look up from the fish that he was examining under the microscope. During our second 'meeting' he whacked me over the knuckles with a steel ruler for touching a scale on a coelacanth specimen. Later, we became more familiar and I even went on country walks with him. Then, many years later, after completing my PhD in ichthyology and studying at the Natural History Museum in London, I joined the staff of the then JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology as Senior Lecturer in Ichthyology. Margaret, JLB's widow, was the Director at the time and we worked closely together to develop the teaching of ichthyology in South Africa. When Margaret retired in 1982 I took over as the second Director of the Ichthyology Institute and continued to work with her to develop the full potential of her 'baby'. I also became fascinated by the life stories of the two 'Fishy Smiths' and, inevitably, found myself irrevocably entwined in the coelacanth story. JLB Smith (or simply JLB, as he was widely known), was born in Graaff-Reinet, South Africa, on 26th September 1897. He had the same birthday as his wife, and their son, William, grew up thinking that all parents were born on the same day of the year! Smith was educated at schools in Noupoort, De Aar, Aliwal North and, from 1912 to 1914, at Diocesan College (Bishops), Cape Town. At Bishops he excelled in his academic studies and was an active member of the cadets. Other important scientists and technologists who were graduates of Diocesan College include James Greathead (1844-1896), inventor of the 'Greathead Shield' that was used to drill the tunnels for the first London Underground trains, and Alexander Logie du Toit (1878-1948), a geologist who was an early supporter of the theory of continental drift. After matriculating, JLB entered Victoria College (the precursor to Stellenbosch University) in 1915 and, at the end of the year, passed with top marks in his subjects in South Africa and was awarded several bursaries and exhibitions. He then enlisted with the 12th South African Infantry battalion as a machine gunner in the East Africa campaign. Along with many other young soldiers, he soon contracted several tropical diseases, including malaria, dysentery and Malta fever, and was discharged as medically unfit. [...]

This is an excerpt from The Annotated Old Fourlegs. The updated story of the coelacanth, by Mike Bruton.

Title: The Annotated Old Fourlegs
Subtitle: The updated story of the coelacanth
Author: Mike Bruton
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Struik Nature
Cape Town, South Africa 2017
ISBN 9781775844990 / ISBN 978-1-77-584499-0
Softcover, 22 x 22 cm, 336 pages, throughout color and b/w photography and images