FOOTPRINTS ON THE SANDS OF TIME 45 



" the huge auiinal giant ; " Polemarchus gigas, " the huge leader in 

 war," and so on. He concludes a description of some of these 

 creatures in the following words : " Such was the fauna of the 

 sandstone days in the Connecticut Valley. What a wonderful 

 menagerie ! Who would believe that such a register lay buried in 

 the strata ? To open the leaves, to unroll the papyrus, has been 

 an intensely interesting though difficult task, having all the 

 excitement and marvellous developments of romance. And yet 



FIG. 4. Portion of a slab, with tracks. (After Hitchcock.) 



the volume is only partly read. Many a new page, I fancy, will 

 yet be opened, and many a new key obtained to the hieroglyphic 

 record. I am thankful that I have been allowed to see so much 

 by prying between the folded leaves. At first, men supposed that 

 the strange and gigantic races which I described were mere 

 creatures of imagination, like the Gorgons and Chimeeras of the 

 ancient poets. But now that hundreds of their footprints, as 

 fresh and distinct as of yesterday, impressed upon the mud, arrest 

 the attention of the sceptic on the ample slabs of our cabinets, 



