224 



Remarks on the Prints of Human Ftet. 



inga charitable remark in favour of religious tenets, of 

 which wecanjiKlge only by (he peaceful, industrious, and 

 devotional lives; the neat and cleanly appearance ; and 

 the inoflensive manners of those who profess them- Still 

 less could be conceded in favour of a persoiial taste for ob- 

 jects of natural history or curiQsity, of which (I/js act is, at 

 least, a proof. Be this as it may, Mr. Rappe contracted 

 with a stone mason to cut out the block with the impres- 

 sions, paying him at the same time a liberal price for his 

 labour, and ordered it to be transported by water to his 

 residence in Posy county, Indiana, Visiti:ig this place 

 during the last summer, in the suite of Governor Cass, Mr* 

 Rappc conducted us to see this curiosity, which has been 

 placed upon mason work in a paved area between his dwel- 

 ling house and garden, in the manner represented in figure 



ll. of the drawi 



»g 



The slab of stone thus preserved. 



forms a parallelogram of eight feet in length, by three and a 

 half in breadth, and has a thickness of eight inches, which 

 appears to be the natural thickness of the stratum of lime- 

 stone rock, of which it is a part. This limestone possesses 

 n firm and compart structure, of the peculiar greyish blue 

 tint common to the calcareous rocks of the Mississippi val- 

 ley, and contains fossil encrinites, and some analagous re- 

 mains, very plentifully imbedded. It is quarried at St. Lou- 

 is, both for the purposes of building stone, and for quick- 

 lime. It becomes beautifully white on parting with its 

 carbonic acid and water, and those who have used it, ob- 

 serve, tliatit makes a good cement, with the usual propor- 

 tion of sand. 



The prints are those of a man standing erect, with his 

 heels drawn in, and his toes turned outward, which is the 

 most natural position. The distance between the heels, by 



accurate measurement, is 61 inches, and between the toes, 

 13| inches: but it will be perceived, that these are not the 



impressions of feet accustomed to a close shoe, the toes 

 being very much spread, and the foot flattened in a man- 

 ner that happens to those who have been habituated to gO 

 a great length of time without shoes. Notwithstanding 

 this circumstance, the prints are strikingly natural, exhibit- 

 ing every muscular impression, and swell of the heel and 

 toes, with a precision and faithfulness to nature, which I 

 have not been able to copy, with perfect exactness, in the 



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