This cartoon depicts Swiss naturalists on a field trip to nearby caves during their annual congress in 1875. The caption pretends to report from the proceedings: “Even in Gotthard we were received extremely courteously; the bones found, tools of all kinds, etc. obviously belong to the Bronze Age.” The iconic Darwin, shown holding a bone, surely did not attend, but the man behind him strongly resembles Arnold Dodel (albeit unduly gray), the botanist who was his strongest ally in Switzerland. The source of amusement for present purposes would be the gnome on the right spritzing the naturalists with disinfectant. (Scroll down for detail.) Switzerland had not been spared during the upsurge of cholera less than two years earlier…
(Nebelspalter, Zurich, 1875)
Sic Transit Pestilentia 