Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1855-07-28

the duties he owed to his Creator but the dai-
ly offering of prayer and praise went up from
the altar of his cottage home.
He did not throw away his Bible when his
discoveries forced upon him the conviction that
birds Of gigantic size, and quadrupeds of curl
Gus forms, had sporied on the banks of our
streams, ages ere man had been created; but
when after days Of toll, he lifted slab of stone,
covered with evidences of the fact, he, like his
Scottish p5c,otype. said in his heart, Behold
tho nS;e' ,ce VS. Nv Of the Creator"
but though to be Woodworking man, and
10 be Christian man, are valuable characleris-
tics, challenging the esteem of community,
yet we have many such men in New England,
and il was not for these characteristics that the
name of Dexter Marsh escaped beyond the bor-
ders of the village of his residence, and be-
came familiar to the learned in every land.
Most of the mature life of Mr. Marsh was
spent in the village Of Greenfield. There,
about the year 1885 OF 1886, while laying some
tagging stone into a sidewalk near his house,
he discovered in one the footprints of bird.
This was an hour of perplexity, bu, soon to be
] followed by triumph and honor. To that time
he was wholly ignorant of geology, and pos
sessed only the common notion Of the formation
of the earth but being man Of accurate OBJ
servation and logical order of thought, he was
convinced that The print before him was the
print of the birds foot. But the print was in
a solid rock. ouarried from Several feet beneath
The surface. How il came there he could not
decide. "In this perplexity," saws Mr. Inger-
sol, che called to it Ilhe discoveryl the atten-
ton of friend. whose reading was extensive,
and received from him the first seeds of what
anerward grew into a stately tree. With ca
oerness he prasped the Truths of peolopy. and
was thus suddenly introduced into new world
of ,hongbt The snh;pct nroved in be n.cul;ar.
ll, 6,,ed ,o hi. ,,der, ,emner,men, and bo hv
bis b,h;,s Of observ,,ion and Iooical no,yc,s
,y,s a. 6,,sd 70 tho .nhiec, uo ,yas soon ,hIo
"a ,,rose,, ;rrsf,,,h,e reasoDs Gar holoy;na tho
,in,s % bo tho c,o,-nr;n,s nr b,,Js and ~ r.,.
"a ~, ..,,,,,on,s A., IT, Ian LII
On hv reolo,;s,s ~ nrove ,be same ros;,;on
In ,h;s dener,Don, or fossil ccoloDv ho coon
stood yy;,hou, comroer Drs ns,no ,nd
I;,ohoool, hronoh, on, ,ha rosul,s oe L. L.,
into r,hl;. no,;ce dosc,ibod named ,od ,I...
s;sod Tho .n;n,,ls which n,oda ,ha rr;n,s ,nd
,ho I,,,o, osroc;,Ilv re,ned mo,;,od hooors an,
,.o,ld ovor S;r Roder;cL Mnrch;r.on IN a,
,ddross hof,ro ,he London C.ooIoo,;o.I Soo;o,v
cor,nl;men,ea tho o,eo, ,oor,l a. xh;hi,o .,
b. H., .s;n ,hro,s;n,, 49,, ~. onin;or 80,
a., ;no,ad,Ions nrhI;c, - Ar. Nh h.I ~, -.
r,,,;on 70 lose hp, ,ho,oh ho h.s NO c,a;n, e.
, y,Ior when tried hv tho Standard Of o,hors 900
& ,not ,,;so !. Az % liz, DO, 1, IL o;-,,,,.
f stances he comnrsbended The n,,nrp and ;uDor
,,roo or ,ho disoovo,v and ,,,od ,y;,h /, ,oal !,
roc,rence 40 !, which no, one 1, ,niIIon ,vonI,
! b,ve shown
. To Tho unconno,iv ,ccurs,p and ex,ens;v,
ohsorr ,,;ons =, NJ N,rsh and 10 hi. c,rc;I,l,
stated aroumen,s. other gentlemen owe some
= ,hinc a, least of ,be honor Of their laurels.-
3 He al first set them right and corrected then
l. when thev fell into error. DIR. Il wa
1, once lectnripo in Boston. and Mr. Marsh was !,
n attendance. The doctor announced that he ha,
v discovered the track of lame bird. one who's,
4 leo had been broken. and the foot turned mart O
!, the way round. the toe inward. Mr. MarsI
d saw his error but awaiting a time when IN,
s doc,or visited his cabinet he sci him ripbt h,
C showing him that ann t,co tracks of the bir,
G taken alone would present the same appearance
as the two from which the doctor had inferre,
O the lameness of the bird bu, when more track
+ were considered land Mr. Marsh had slabs con
a tanning seyeralO the error of the inference wa
a apparent The fact of the case was that III
i birds. in walking. directed the middle toe o
If one foo, TO the heel of the next, and the doeto
II had taken the line of one foot for the course q
d the bird. while line from heel to toe of III
i other made a large angle with il: wherea:
q both toes inclininp inward. and each making
small angle with the course of the bird, ther
(. was no necessity of breaking either leg.
q. After the discovery of the track in The fac
/. stone near his house. others were discovered a
ready laid into sidewalks in the same Village
: and these, which before were thought only ia
= perfect flags. were taken up as valuable. TIL
re quarry from which ,hey came was visited, an
n others found. MIR Marsh built him a boa
he which he could carry round the rapids of iii
ic river. and taking with him powder and drill
l. and provision he would row from place to plac,
is sometimes thirty miles a day, searching alon
l., u -. - = fl c..-;. w.