Coprolites
Mary couldn't stop weeping as she gently stroked the head of her prized ichthyosaur skeleton. She hadn't had a major find for a while, and she'd been discouraged enough before her friend Henry De la Beche had stopped by. The papers he'd left for her to read and copy had broken through the stoic face she hid behind.
Her little terrier Tray lay next to the door of their little shop, eyeing her with concern. His mistress was not one for tears, and her silent crying had been going on for almost an hour. He trotted over to her and lay his head on her lap. Her hand automatically moved from the skeleton to his rough fur.
"Oh Tray...did you see what Henry brought us?" she gestured at the papers on the far table.
"Remember Dr.Buckland? He wrote about the bezoar stones I'd broken open some years ago. I showed him they had little fish bones and scales in them. I told him they could be fossilized dung.
"I don't know why I'm crying. I keep telling these geologists about the fossils I work so hard to find, but who else can I talk to about them? So many new things I've found...I just need to share...
"Of course I'd never be allowed to write anything for their precious Geological Society. Because I'm below their class, and a woman most of those bastards take my work and publish it as their own. So much for being gentlemen!
"Dr. Buckland used what I told him to write that paper. He calls the dung coprolite. Of course, I couldn't have thought of the fancy name for it. But I did the work.
"And Tray..." Mary dropped to the floor next to the startled terrier and hugged him tightly.
"Dr.Buckland told the Geological Society what I did helped solve the mystery. He told them all what I did!."
Tray licked her wet face and wagged his tail in response to her happier tone.
Mary couldn't help the tears from starting again. Silly as it was, Mr.Buckland's acknowledgment had eased a hunger in her soul she didn't know she'd had. Wiping her eyes, she got dressed to visit the cliffs again with a lighter heart than she'd had in months.
"Come on Tray. We have fossils to find!"
Note: This is a highly fictionalized account based on Mary Anning - the woman who did most of the grunt work in shaping the field of paleontology.
Her little terrier Tray lay next to the door of their little shop, eyeing her with concern. His mistress was not one for tears, and her silent crying had been going on for almost an hour. He trotted over to her and lay his head on her lap. Her hand automatically moved from the skeleton to his rough fur.
"Oh Tray...did you see what Henry brought us?" she gestured at the papers on the far table.
"Remember Dr.Buckland? He wrote about the bezoar stones I'd broken open some years ago. I showed him they had little fish bones and scales in them. I told him they could be fossilized dung.
"I don't know why I'm crying. I keep telling these geologists about the fossils I work so hard to find, but who else can I talk to about them? So many new things I've found...I just need to share...
"Of course I'd never be allowed to write anything for their precious Geological Society. Because I'm below their class, and a woman most of those bastards take my work and publish it as their own. So much for being gentlemen!
"Dr. Buckland used what I told him to write that paper. He calls the dung coprolite. Of course, I couldn't have thought of the fancy name for it. But I did the work.
"And Tray..." Mary dropped to the floor next to the startled terrier and hugged him tightly.
"Dr.Buckland told the Geological Society what I did helped solve the mystery. He told them all what I did!."
Tray licked her wet face and wagged his tail in response to her happier tone.
Mary couldn't help the tears from starting again. Silly as it was, Mr.Buckland's acknowledgment had eased a hunger in her soul she didn't know she'd had. Wiping her eyes, she got dressed to visit the cliffs again with a lighter heart than she'd had in months.
"Come on Tray. We have fossils to find!"
Note: This is a highly fictionalized account based on Mary Anning - the woman who did most of the grunt work in shaping the field of paleontology.