NATURE'S HIEROGLYPHICS. 143 



was a divergent one, the ultimate representatives differing widely from 

 one another in bodily contour, form and structure of the teeth, and in 

 mode of progression. 



The Carnivorous Dinosaurs. 



The earliest and most primitive of the carnivorous dinosaurs were 

 those already alluded to as having been found at New Windsor and 

 Springfield in the Connecticut valley. These creatures were some- 

 what lizard-like in general aspect, with the fore limbs fitted for grasp- 

 ing, while the much larger hind limbs, which were very bird-like, were 

 used for locomotion. A study of the skeleton seems to indicate that 

 the center of gravity came just about the region of the hip socket, so 

 that the weight of the tail counterbalanced that of the forward portion 

 of the body, thus making progression upon the hind limbs the only 

 probable gait. The grasping hand, the structure of which is ill-fitted 

 for locomotion, gives color to this assumption. 



An extremely interesting slab in the Amherst College Museum, 

 whose upper surface has been worn smooth by the feet of nearly two 

 generations of men, for it did duty as a paving stone in the streets of 

 Middletown, Connecticut, for more than fifty years, bears on its under 

 surface in high relief numerous perfect tracks, in this instance not 

 the footprints themselves, but the natural casts of the feet which made 

 the prints, formed when the incoming tide deposited its load of sedi- 

 ment over the place where the creatures had walked. This has relief, 

 for such it may be called, admits of the following interpretation: that 

 the makers of the tracks were true bipeds, as all of the casts are those 

 of hind feet, moderately long of limb, walking with alternate steps, 

 with compact bird-like feet, having three toes directed forward with 

 moderately pointed claws, and evidently another directed backward 

 whose claw only occasionally touched the ground. There is no sign 

 of a caudal trace, showing that the tail if present was used only as a 

 counterpoise. The size, length of limb, number and proportions of 

 the toes, and the absence of hand and tail impressions, together with 

 the fact that they are among the most numerous of the tracks, the 

 makers of which would in consequence be among those most likely to 

 be preserved as fossils, all point conclusively to the New Windsor 

 dinosaur as the creature whose existence is thus recorded. 



The carnivorous dinosaurs followed at least two lines of evolution, 

 the more conservative of which simply increased in size and in conse- 

 quent^strength and ferocity throughout their racial career. In this 

 group, perhaps the most remarkable feature is the constantly increas- 

 ing disparity of size between the fore and hind limbs, for in the later 

 forms the arms were so absurdly small that it is difficult to conjecture 

 their use. As the fore limbs decreased in size, the hind legs, in addi- 



