EDWARD HITCHCOCK. 693 



ferred to a committee of the American Association of Geologists, 

 consisting of H. D. Rogers, L. Vannxem, R. C. Taylor, E. Em- 

 mons, and T. A. Conrad, in order, if possible, to produce a una- 

 nimity of opinion. Those who had most earnestly opposed the 

 new doctrine were upon the committee, but all were convinced ; 

 as their report, issued in 1841, states, " From a comparative ex- 

 amination of the facts on both sides, your committee unanimously 

 believe that the evidence entirely favors the views of Prof. Hitch- 

 cock, and should regret that a difference had existed, if they did 

 not feel assured it would lead to greater stability of opinion." 



The publications upon the subject of these triassic footmarks 

 by Prof. Hitchcock have been quite numerous. The most impor- 

 tant were that in the final report upon the geology of Massachu- 

 setts in 1841, a paper in the Transactions of the American Acad- 

 emy of Arts and Sciences in 1848, in the Ichnology of New Eng- 

 land, published by the State of Massachusetts in 1859 and its 

 supplement in I860. The total number of species described, as 

 finally revised, amounted to one hundred and fifty. They were 

 referred to several groups : a few marsupialoids, thick and narrow- 

 toed birds, ornithoid lizards or batrachians, lizards, batrachians, 

 chelonians, fish, Crustacea, myriapods, insects, and worms. At 

 first the trifid impressions were referred to birds ; and it was con- 

 sidered a remarkable confirmation of this view that in 1838 or 

 1839 there should have been found in New Zealand the bones of 

 true birds having the same dimensions as the largest Brontozoum. 

 Prof. Owen has stated jthat his belief in the ornithic character of 

 the Deinornis was strongly fortified by the fact of the existence 

 of the Brontozoum. Very soon after the earliest publications 

 about these ornithichnites specimens were exhumed which became 

 very puzzling because of the presence of quadrupedal characters. 

 It became very clear that there must be an intermediate class of 

 beings between birds and reptiles, and accordingly this conclu- 

 sion was embodied in the assignment of a large number of these 

 Ichnozoa to the designation of " ornithoid lizards or batrachians." 

 As time has progressed the order of Deinosaur has been pro- 

 posed, to include such animals as have been made known to us by 

 their bones; and now it is doubtful whether any of the impres- 

 sions were made by birds. Prof. O. C. Marsh has obtained entire 

 skeletons of Deinosaurs from the Connecticut sandstones, which 

 he calls Anchisaurus. They seem to be allied to the Plesiornis 

 rather than the Anomozpus or Brontozoum of Hitchcock. 



The specimens from which the opinions and descriptions of 

 the ichnology were derived are preserved in the Hitchcock Ich- 

 nological Cabinet at Amherst College, and completely fill a room 

 one hundred by forty feet, besides two smaller apartments. The 

 number of distinct impressions studied and labeled exceeds twenty 



