, 1879-06-28
Remarkable Fossil Tracks.

In the early summer of ioI !, Is MI oac"o
Lower, of Ellsworth, whose farm Is on the
town line Joining on the west line ot Gan
field, Mahoning county, was clearing OIL the
dirt from a large bed of sandstone, tor the
purpose of quarrying stone for building he
came upon what appeared to HIM to be sev-
eral rows OF the tracks OF some gigantic AMI
NAL Not being geOlogist, he could not
make out what IL all meant. He related the
thing TO VIM Wetm0re, and Mr. Wetmore,
as soon as he SAW me, said to me that he
thought it might be something worth look
ing after, and we had better 60 out there
and see about it. When We got there We
found that large portion of the tracks-for
tracks they were, and no mistake about 1t
had been quarried out, but the blocks lay
there and the tracks were on them, anu The
NEST of them we're yet whole. The rock Is
the common sandstone, from Which, Is taken
all our building stone, and lies Immediately
over the coal seam that Is called No. 4, and
is tie rock that runs through the top OF all
the low hills in this vicinity. Denudatlon
has beeu doing a great work hereabouts and
has cut through and through this rock, max
ING many long and narrow valleys, and 1t
is only where the rock was harder that 1t has
withsto0d the denuding acton, and these
places are these hills, and they are rounded
off so that the rock slopes IN all directions
from the top. These tracks are on the west
side of these rounded off hills. and the rock
Is planed down quite smooth.
The animals were all gong 70 the east, up
the slope OF the rock, and their tracks were
all parellel to each other, and there We're
several of them even on the comparatively
small space of the rock uncovered. ihey
are al OF nearly the same size. eight anu
half inches long by eight inches broad,
except ome, which was about hre inches
long. This was a calf IN tins drove OF eat
tie. and 40 lot of cows walking across
newly narrowed field ever left more unmIs-
taxable tracks. The tracks were mostly
two inches deep. But as there had been
some planting done after they were made
they were in some places worn OH some
Where the rock WAS not much worn, the
mark of the fet-locll or dewc!aw apPendaSe
To the ankle was very diStinc', and loaked
inst as II the end of 4 finger had been pressed
in 2 little way, and there being only one,
and that IN the middle 0f the loot, showed
the animal to be a solid-hoofed animal and
not a cloven- hoofed one. There were no IN
dications O: any tees or OF anything oil the
kind.
One track was fun of very hard clay, and
| succeeded in getting 1t out whole and the
cast was Just like the end OF pestle. The
length Of the step forgot to measure, but
il was senle four or five feet. For the length
OF the step OF all animals We have very
ne ,rly the length of the leg. | was sorry
that forgot to get that measure, but l Will
get il when examine that place again, as
intend to do soon. T.,;s description of the
tracks themselves | think is sufficient tor
the present but now comes up the question.
What animal was it that made these tracks?
To persons not posted in fossil geology, this
might seem hard question to answer. But
not to those who have made these things a
;.tnGy. 9,
OF all the gigantic anirlals that have lived
| on the earth previous to man very few OF
them, indeed, have solid hoofs or are ''soli-
peda." as they are called. They ara almost
| all either cloven-footed or with toes or claws
some very long claws; as the megalonyx.
that IS long-clawed. The most of those that
are large enough to make such tracks are
either cloven- -koOfed or have three toes. SO
we have very limited number TO select
from. About eighty years ago there was
| taken from an ice bank on the cnast OF 81
IBERIA an animal that was in so well preserved
a condition that we can see Just what kind
of feet he had, and his feet would make Just
such a track Gs those on these rocks, and
that animal was the same animal that roamed
over the country ard left his bones here ard
there, which We now dig up and call them
mammoth banes-HdYttord Times.