10 
FOSSIL IMPRESSIONS. — IL. 
IcHNoLoGy, a newly created branch of science, takes 
its name from the Greek word iy, a track or footstep, 
and the tracks themselves have been denominated Ich- 
nites, or, when they refer to birds only, Ornithichnites, 
from spre, a bird. And this last term has by custom 
been generally applied to ancient impressions, though 
not correctly. 
Geology has revealed to us not only the remains of 
animals and vegetables, but the impressions made by 
them during their lives, and even the impressions of 
unorganized bodies. ‘The first notice of these appear- 
ances was, as often happens, regarded with indifference 
or scepticism; but their number and variety enlight-_ 
ened the public mind, and opened a new source of 
information and improvement. 
The first remarkable observation made on fossil 
footsteps was that of the Rev. Dr. Duncan, of Scot- 
land, in 1828. He noticed, in a new red sandstone 
