398 Prof. HitchcocWs Rejoinder to Dr. Deane. 



with geology to appreciate the necessity of those researches in 

 relation to segregated and clay veins, mud furrows, ripple marks, 

 disintegration, concretions, organic remains, slides, faults, &c., 

 which in the first instance cost me months and finally years of 

 labor, and without which, no geologist would ever admit these 

 markings to be bird tracks, although, as the results were chiefly 

 negative, they were scarcely noticed in my papers. I maintain 

 that I first, and for several years alone, made these investigations 

 in relation to the tracks of this country, and therefore may claim 

 to be the discoverer, in a scientific sense, of fossil bird tracks ; 

 and to admit the claims of Dr. Deane to a priority to myself in 

 all these respects, and thus make me a mere humble expounder 

 of his views, does me great injustice, and affixes a most unmer- 

 ited stigma of illiberality and unfairness upon my character. 

 On the other hand, I acknowledge, and from the first have ac- 

 knowledged — according to the strictest rules observed by natu- 

 ralists in these matters — my great indebtedness to him for calling 

 my attention to the subject, and for specimens. I admit him to 

 have been in a popular sense, the original discoverer of the 

 footmarks ; and had it not been for his scientific discernment, 

 probably they would still have remained undiscovered. I admit 

 that since he has turned his attention to this branch of geology, 

 he has shown unusual ability as an observer, and produced some 

 highly creditable papers on the footmarks ; and by saying that 

 he was not familiar with the subject in 1835, I merely echo the 

 sentiment of his own letter, and mean not the shghtest disrespect 

 to his character. 



I have thus written plainly, but I would hope not unkindly. 

 If so, 1 charge it to the language rather than my heart. It is 

 the most unpleasant discussion, on several accounts, in which I 

 was ever engaged ; and I have tried every possible way to avoid 

 it, consistently with a sense of duty to myself, my children, 

 and others. Had I been alone concerned, I should have borne 

 in silence what seems to me the cruel injustice of having the 

 fruits of several years of hard labor taken from me and transfer- 

 red to another, just as I seemed on the point of gaining the hard- 

 fought battle. But the desire of leaving some legacy to one's 

 children and friends is lawful ; and if I cannot leave to my fam- 

 ily, and the institution with which I am connected, a name free 

 from dishonorable imputations, and a modicum of scientific rep- 



