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 were 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 
