COPROLITES. The name was originally given by Dr. Wil liam Buckland to certain bodies in the Lias of Gloucestershire which formerly had been considered fossil fir cones. He showed that they possessed characters which could be best explained on the supposition that they were the fossilized excreta of reptiles (from Gr. rcozrpos, dung and XiWos, stone). Chemical analysis showed that they were very rich in phosphatic minerals.
Since Buckland's time the term has been extended to include practically all phosphatic nodules found in sedimentary rocks. The nodules, such as those of the Cambridge greensand, are largely lumps of phosphatized mud and frequently have been formed around some fossil which was derived from older beds or formed in and around shells of that period. Their formation appears to take place in a sea rich in phosphatic matter and where there are strong currents.
Coprolites in the wide sense have been extensively dug in the past for artificial manure, since they yield from so to 55% but the industry is now almost extinct. (See also PHOSFHATE.) (W. B. R. K.)