262 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



IIUMAN FOOT-PRINTS IN STRATIFIED 

 ROCK. 

 Messrs. Editors: 



NEAR the mouth of the Little Cheyenne 

 River, in Dakota Territory, there is 

 a rock on which are some curious indenta- 

 tions. The rock lies on the north slope of 

 a bowlder-covered hill, and is itself an er- 

 ratic. It is about twelve feet long by seven 

 or eight feet wide, and rises above the sur- 

 face of the ground about eighteen inches. 

 Its edges are angular, its surface flat, and 

 it shows but little, if any, effect of ice-ac- 

 tion. It appears to be magnesian limestone, 

 and its size and whiteness make it a con- 

 spicuous object. 



On the surface, near the southeast cor- 

 ner of it, is a perfect foot-print as though 

 made by the left, moccasined foot of a 

 woman, or boy of, say, fourteen years. The 

 toes are toward the north. The indentation 

 is about half an inch deep. About four 

 and a half feet in front of it and in line 

 with it, near the middle of the rock, is a 

 deeper indentation made with the right foot, 

 the heel being deeper than the rest of the 

 foot. And again, about five and a half feet 

 in front of this, and in line with both the 

 others, is a third foot-print, this time with 

 the left foot. 



The three foot-prints are of the same 

 size, and are such as would apparently be 

 made by a person running rapidly. The 

 foot-print of the right foot is an inch deep 

 at the heel, and three quarters of an inch at 

 the ball. The third foot-print is about three 

 quarters of an inch in depth. In all three 

 the arch of the instep is well defined, and 

 the toes faintly indicated. The rock is hard, 

 and not of uniform texture, having vein-like 

 markings about a quarter of an inch wide 

 running through it, which, weathering hard- 

 er than the body of the rock, present slight- 

 ly raised surfaces. 27iis difference in the 

 vjeathering of the rock is the same in the bot- 

 tom of the foot-prints as on the surface of the 

 rock. 



From Mr. Le Beau, a " squaw-man," who 

 has lived in that region for twenty-six years, 

 I learned that it is known to the Indians as 

 a " medicine "-rock, and that they worship 

 it. He says that none of the present In- 

 dians know anything of the origin of the 

 foot-prints. A town has been recently 

 started within half a mile of it, called 

 Waneta, and white children playing about 

 it have found numerous beads and other 

 trinkets, probably placed there as offerings. 



I had heard of the rock several weeks 



previous to my visit, and expected to find 

 either the work of nature with only a fan- 

 cied resemblance, or the rude sculpturing of 

 the Indians. The uniformity in size and 

 direction discredits the former view, as the 

 difference between the foot-prints seems to 

 make the latter doubtful ; and the possibility 

 of the foot-prints having been made when 

 the material of which the rock is composed 

 was in a soft state presents itself as the 

 best solution of the problem. 



I trust that this communication may 

 lead to its investigation by those competent 

 to decide the matter. 



Very truly yours, 



Herbert P. Hubbell. 

 "WrNONA, Minnesota, September 10, 1883. 



ASTHMA AND ITS TREATMENT. 

 Messrs. Editors : 



Your " Monthly " for September con- 

 tains an article by Felix L. Oswald, M. D., 

 on "Asthma." For many years I was a 

 martyr to that distressing complaint; and 

 know its character and symptoms from per- 

 sonal experience. Naturally, I have also 

 gathered, from others who were similarly 

 afflicted, results of their experience, to say 

 nothing of what I have read in medical 

 works on the subject. My own experience, 

 and that of all whom I have known, is so 

 different from what Dr. Oswald writes, that 

 I am impelled, for the sake of many who 

 may receive great injury, and perhaps even 

 lose their lives by following his extreme 

 doctrine, to write to you in criticism of what 

 he has written. 



There are many errors of statement in 

 his article. He says "the most frequent 

 proximate cause is violent mental emotion 

 fear, anxiety, and especially suppressed an- 

 ger." I do not dispute that any one of these 

 may cause asthma, but among the proximate 

 causes that are far more frequent are an 

 ordinary cold, a damp pillow, an ill-venti- 

 lated, stuffy room or berth, a, severe attack 

 of indigestion. Indeed, as an asthmatic at- 

 tack generally comes on in the early morn- 

 ing, the patient waking in a semi-nightmare 

 to find the attack already begun, it is after 

 a period of rest rather than passion or men- 

 tal excitement that it supervenes. 



" Asthma," he says, " is a warm-ivcather 

 disease." Perhaps it may be with some. 

 There is a great variety in asthmatic cases. 

 Some are better in cities, some in the coun- 

 try. There are no two cases alike in all 

 their features. So far from asthma being a 



