12 June 1889

Would the gold and marble of the most beautiful dwellings be able to rival the veritable cathedral of life that my friend Michel Edmond de Selys Longchamps has patiently conceived of in his castle in Waremme? With its thousands of specimens, his collection of birds and insects can compare with the greatest museums of natural science. At every visit I make, I lose myself in his collection and discover species that escape my limited knowledge. It must be said that the man who assembled this collection is one of the greatest minds of our time. When he generously welcomes me for lengthy evenings, we chat, surrounded by these thousands of frozen beings (and yet still so present!), about our ephemeris, as we jokingly call it. We thus talk about the dates where we will be able to observe the return of the migratory spotted flycatcher, where the chirps of the swallows will start to ring out from under the beams of our stables, where the hooting of the owl will break the silence of long nights at the end of winter…He also discusses the complexities and convolutions of the evolution of different forms of life with me. Certainly, I did not know the great Darwin, but my knowledgeable friend tells me countless stories about the incredible diversity of colours, beaks, flights and behaviour. Our century has been opened to the depths of time. Keen to ceaselessly push back our origins, science is digging into the earth, scanning the horizon and examining all beings, whether active or inert, infinitesimal or gigantic. If, as old Heraclitus wrote, “Nature likes to hide itself”, we are now focused on unveiling it. Daring is the one who believes he can reach the Truth, but what a noble mission…