IMPRESSIONS OF THE PAST 45 



of wonderful footprints in the rock of the 

 prison-yard at Carson City, Nev., which, ac- 

 cording to the papers, not only showed that 

 men existed at a much earlier period than the 

 scientific supposed, but that they were men 

 of giant stature. This was clearly demon- 

 strated by the footprints, for they were such as 

 might have been made by huge moccasined 

 feet, and this was all that was necessary for 

 the conclusion that they ivere made by just 

 such feet. For it is a curious fact that the 

 majority of mankind seem to prefer any ex- 

 planation other than the most simple and nat- 

 ural, particularly in the case of fossils, and are 

 always looking for a primitive race of gigantic 

 men. 



Bones of the Mastodon and Mammoth have 

 again and again been eagerly accepted as those 

 of giants ; a salamander was brought forward 

 as evidence of the deluge {homo diluvii testis); 

 ammonites and their allies pose as fossil snakes, 

 and the "petrified man" flourishes perennially. 

 However, in this case the prints were recog- 

 nized by naturalists as having most probably 

 been made by some great ground sloth, such 



