IMPRESSIONS OF THE PAST 37 



1830 to 1835, when they were almost simul- 

 taneously described both in Europe and Amer- 

 ica ; even then, it was some time before they 

 were generally conceded to be actually the 

 tracks of animals, but, like worm burrows and 

 trails, were looked upon as the impressions of 

 sea-weeds. 



The now famous tracks in the "brown 

 stone" of the Connecticut Valley seem to have 

 first been seen by Pliny Moody in 1802, when 

 he ploughed up a specimen on his farm, show- 

 ing small imprints, which later on were popu- 

 larly called the tracks of Noah's raven. The 

 discovery passed without remark until in 1835 

 the footprints came under the observation of 

 Dr. James Deane, who, in turn, called Professor 

 Hitchcock's attention to them. The latter at 

 once began a systematic study of these im- 

 pressions, publishing his first account in 1836 

 and continuing his researches for many years, 

 in the course of which he brought together the 

 fine collection in Amherst College. At that 

 time Dinosaurs were practically unknown, and 

 it is not to be wondered at that these three- 

 toed tracks, great and small, were almost uni- 



