Mayor cuts Cakus carteri to honour Devon scientist


  



Budleigh-born Fellow of the Royal Society Henry Carter had many species named after him, including a gecko, the frankincense tree and a rather unpleasant fungus. But it’s especially for his research into marine sponges that this army surgeon was internationally known in Victorian times earning the admiration of no less a person than Charles Darwin.  

So celebrating his achievements with a specially baked cake in the shape of a sponge seemed only natural. Budleigh Salterton’s Mayor Courtney Richards is shown with Cakus carteri, Fairlynch 2013 at the opening of a bicentenary exhibition at the town’s museum. Pictured left is Priscilla Hull, co-founder and President of Fairlynch Museum.





















Museum assistant Sylvia Merkel admires Cakus carteri, a novel Victoria sponge

And the cake?  Naturally a Victoria sponge, provided by Fancyflours of Exmouth and enjoyed by more than 30 Friends of Fairlynch and local residents who attended the event.

‘Sea, Salt and Sponges’, the Museum’s 2013 exhibition to honour Henry Carter’s birth 200 years ago, is open daily from 2.00 - 4.30 pm except Saturdays and runs until October. Admission is free. For more details see the website at www.devonmuseums.net/fairlynch   

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