Coprolitic Vision

Coprolitic Vision

Modified to add the title at the bottom (It is in the original, but cut off in source image)
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Date: ~1829

Format: Print

Description: De la Beche ribs his friend and ally William Buckland for the latter's enthusiasm for coprolites. Buckland was a priest and geology professor at Oxford with a reputation for eccentricity and irreverence. One of his particular interests was coprolites, which he used to probe the diets and anatomies of extinct creatures. For instance, he determined that ichthyosaurs ate cuttlefish based on what he believed to be ink stains in the coprolites. Coprolites were also important to his discoveries at Kirkdale cave. Using these materials, he constructed a vivid images of the life histories of extinct animals in a way that bones by themselves could not.

In this cartoon, Buckland overlooks a long hall filled with animals. McCartney (1977) believes that the space is modeled on the nave of a church, and Buckland (who had been ordained a priest) is conducting a service with his geological hammer. It is a great majestic scene - except all of the animals are defecating. The columns themselves are shaped like coprolites. There is excrement even in the foreground -- and maybe even underneath Buckland himself.

For more on Buckland, see his entry in the biography page.

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Other versions:

A low-res image of the full print
Pg 44 of Clary (2003)
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Sources & further discussion: 

Pemberton, S. G. (2010). History of Ichnology: The Reverend William Buckland (1784–1856) and the Fugitive Poets. Ichnos, 17(4), 246-263. Link [tandfonline.com]
This source also has a number of fun poems about Buckland

Clary, Renee M. "Uncovering strata: an investigation into the graphic innovations of geologist Henry T. De la Beche." Thesis. (2003). pg 44. Link [digitalcommons.lsu.edu]

McCartney, Paul J. (1977). Henry De la Beche: Observations on an Observer. Friends of the National Museum of Wales.

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Image yoinked from:

Pemberton, S. G. (2010). History of Ichnology: The Reverend William Buckland (1784–1856) and the Fugitive Poets. Ichnos, 17(4), 246-263. Link [tandfonline.com]