Re: Dinosaur Genera List corrections #166

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/11/01 7:00:33 PM EST, dinoland@lycos.com writes:

<< Sorry for being picky, but aren't you referring to Buckland??  According
to Chris McGowan's new book _The Dragon Seekers_, it was the pathological
vertebrae and braincase of Buckland that were put on display at the Hunterian
Museum.  Judging from McGowan's writing, it seems as if the remains still
exist.

 Maybe this information is wrong, though?? >>

Well, I happen to have both books. Haven't finished reading Chris McGowan's
book, but your email inspired me to look through it for the account of
Buckland's death. Here's what turned up:

(1) In Cadbury's book, it is definitely, no question, Mantell, not Buckland,
whose lower backbones were preserved in the Hunterian Museum. She goes into
some detail about this, in several places, and notes that they were destroyed
in the London blitz. But she does not go into detail about Buckland's death
or about where his remains might repose.

(2) In McGowan's book, it is Buckland's cervical vertebrae and lower cranium
that were diseased and, after he died, were preserved in the same Hunterian
Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. Mantell, he says, was simply buried
after he died. McGowan, however, does not go into detail about Mantell's
death, much as Cadbury does not go into detail about Buckland's death.
Buckland's remains, according to McGowan, may still be on display; he does
not mention their destruction in World War II.

I cannot imagine that either of these writers, considering the considerable
documentation that both provide for their text, would have made the kind of
mistake that seems at first glance to have happened. Is it too much to ask of
coincidence that >both< Buckland's remains and Mantell's remains were
preserved in the Hunterian Museum, for related reasons? But if so, why did
neither writer uncover this most peculiar circumstance? A most interesting
little conundrum that certainly requires emailing both writers to resolve!

(By the way, the jacket of the US edition of Terrible Lizard features a nice
photo of the skeleton of Baryonyx--but this dinosaur appears nowhere in the
text.)