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- 
