title: A strange horn between Paolo Mantegazza and Charles Darwin.
abstract: During the preparation of an exhibition in Pavia dedicated to the centennial anniversary of the death of the Italian Pathologist Paolo Mantegazza, a strange cheratinic horn was found at the Museum for the History of the University of Pavia labelled as 'spur of a cock transplanted into an ear of a cow.' After some historical investigation, we found this strange object was at the centre of a scientific correspondence between Mantegazza and Charles Darwin, who made reference to it in his book The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication.
authors.affiliation: University of Pavia, Italy. mariacarla.garbarino@unipv.it
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garbarino
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mazzarello