Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1859-05-20
FOOTPRINTS IN THE ROCKS

WIS II possible IoF ahiAhos9 VI t0ptAeS 10
make the impressions which are now said
to be their footsteps preserved in the solid
rock 2 Hugh Miller had a rare faculty
of finding apt illustrations from daily
life of the abstrusest theories of science,
and in his Popular Geology just pub
lished, work of singular fascination and
eloquence, he tells the following incident,
which answers this perplexing question :;
The strange reptiles Of this ancient
time, in passing over the tide uncovered
beaches of the district, leftheir footsteps
imprinted in the yielding sand; and in
this sand, no longer yielding, but harden
ed long ages ago into solid rock, the foot
steps still remain. And with truly won
derful neutrality-suspicious. of things
the most evanescen in themselves, aud of
incidents regarding which it might seem
extravagant to expect that any record
should remain, do we fnd these strange
markings charged. They even tell us
how the rains of that remote age descen-
: ded, and how its winds blew.
Let US see whether we cannot indicate
few of at least the simpler principles of
this department of science. The artificial
sheet of water situated among the Pent-
lands, and known as the Compensation
Pond, was laid dry, during the warm
summer of 1912, to the depth of ten faith
oms; and as a lake bottom ten fathoms
4 from the surface, is not often seen, Wis
tied it, in the hope of acquiring few
facts that might be of use to me among
the rocks. What first struck me, in sur
veying the brown sun-baked bottom from
: the shore, was the manner in which it had
i cracked in the drying, into irregular poly
. gonal partings, and that the ripplemark-
ings with which it was fretted extended
u along only narrow border, where the
water had been shallow enough to permi
the winds or superficial currents to act OF
= the soft clay beneath. As l descended
i l found the surface between the parting
indented with numerous well-markeC
tracks of the feet of men and animals,madt
whilethe clay was yet oft,and.now wfxed il
! it by the drying proeess,-like the mari
of the stamp in an ancient brick
i! And some of these tracks were charged
n with little snatches of incident, which the,
e. told in style remarkably ineligible an,
i clear. At one place, for instance,
found the footprints of some four or fv
n' sheep. They struck out towards the mid
. die Of the hollow, but turned upwards a
- a certain point, in abrupt angle, toward
IL the bank they had quilted, and the mark
of increased speed became palpable.-
The prints, instead of being leisurely sc
" down, SO as to make impressions as SHARP
" edged as if they had been carved or mod
: eled in the clay, were elongated by bein
thrown out backwards, and the stride
were considerably longer than those i
= the downward line. And, bearing d
- rect on the retreating footprints from th
. opposit bank, and also exhibiting signs {
W haste, I detected the track of dog.
w
- The details of the incident thus recort
ed in the hardened mud were complet
-. The sheep had gone down into the no
= low shortly after the retreat of the wi
ters, and while it was yet soft; and Il
:. dog, either acting upon his own judgmen
- or on that of the shepherd, had drive
:. them back. A little farther on l four
prints of shoed foot Of small size.-
They passed onwards across the hollo'
- the steps getting deeper and deeper
they went, until near the middle whe
: there were a few irregular steps, shorte
deeper and more broken than any Of tt
II. others and then the marks of the smi
: shoes altogether disappeared, and smi
naked foot of corresponding size to
their place, and formed long line to t
oflopposite bank. In this case, as in the OF
ro er, the details of the incident were Gle;
nal Some urchin, in venturing across VIII
arc the mud was yet soft and deep, after "
,tb- ding nearly half the way shod, h
mo deemed it more prudent to wade the r,
,,a of it barefoot than to bemire his stoC
.on ings. In each case the incident was
aw corded in peculiar characters; and
nm read such characters Alright, when
der scribed upon the rocks, forms part of /
proper work of the ichnologist. His k
so far at least as mere incident is c.
. cerned, is the key of circamstantial c
dence and very curious events, as
that have said-eyents which one would sea
expect to find recorded in the strata
ancient systems-does it at times Sci
e of to unlock.
lh In some remote and misty age, lost
the deep obscurity of the unreckoned et