224 RtePoRT— 1903. 



Descrijytion of the Footprints. 



In describing the footprints in detail it will be convenient to consider" 

 them merely as footprints, regarding only the features they individually 

 present, without reference to the animal that may be supposed to have 

 made them, except in the case where two forms have frequently been 

 found together in such a position as would warrant our considering them 

 as representing the fore and hind feet of the same animal. 



If we bear this principle in mind and fully recognise that the nomen- 

 clature ' does not involve any assumption as to their origin, it will be well 

 to group together certain of them as cheirotheroid, rhynchosauroid, and 

 chelonoid, the prints in each group having a certain resemblance to those 

 ascribed by the earlier writers to the Cheirotherium, the Rhynchosaurus, 

 and ' some Chelonian ' respectively. This will be the more convenient, as 

 the forms in each group differ greatly from those in either of the others. 

 There will remain many other forms that cannot be included in these 

 groups, but they may be considered later, the above being taken first, as 

 they contain the more common forms. 



Cheirotheroid Forms. 



The most striking of the footprints found in the Triassic rocks is that 

 to which Professor Kaup gave the name ' Cheirotherium ' when it was dis- 

 covered at Hessburg, near Hildburghausen, in 1835. He also suggested 

 the alternative name of ' Cheirosaurus ' in the event of the animal whose 

 presence it recorded proving to be a saurian. As we are still ignorant of 

 the nature of the animal I'eferred to it will be well to adhere to the 

 original name. 



The print is pentadactylatc. and roughly resembles a human hand. It 

 varies from 5 to 15 inches in length, the average being from 8 to 9 inches. 



The middle digit is the longest, those next on either side being rather 

 shorter, and the outer ones considerably shorter still. 



The divisions between the outer digits and those next them extend 

 farther back than those on either side the middle digit. 



Four of the digits are only slightly divergent, and each shows the 

 presence of a sharp claw at the extremity. The outer digit on one side 

 has its origin further back than the corresponding digit on the other side, 

 is broader in proportion to its length, diverges considerably from the axis 

 of the rest of the foot, and is usually curved outwards : it does not show 

 any trace of a claw. 



Where a series of prints is shown it is usually found that they are in 

 a single line, and that the curved digit occurs alternately on the right and 

 left side. If a line be drawn through the middle digits of the prints 

 having the curved digits on the one side and the corresponding digit of 

 those having the curved digit on the other, it will be found that the distance 

 between the two lines is seldom over 3 inches. This would point to 

 the curved digit being the fifth ; but the suggestion has been made that 

 the animal may have crossed its feet to the extent of 3 inches, and that 

 the curved digit was the first. However, tracks have been found where 

 the distance between the lines of the right and left feet is much greater. 

 There is a slab in the Warrington Museum from Lymm where the lines 

 are fully 6 inches apart, and another in the British Museum, No. R. 728, 



' In the detailed description which follows the various forms have been indicated 

 by letters. These correspond with the nomenclature adopted in my previous papers, 

 Proe. Liverponl. Geol. Soc, vol. vii. p. S91 ; vol. viii. p. 233; vol. ix. pp. SI and 23S. 



