Fossil Footmarks of Turnei' 7 s Falls. 73 



sublime spectacle of the agitated surface of the ocean in a storm ; 

 and these rapids continue to occur during the subsequent descent 

 of the river St. Lawrence, from the level of Lake Ontario to that 

 of the sea, making in the aggregate above threefold of the water- 

 fall of the grand cataract, and consequently one hundred and 

 twenty fold of all the physical power derived from the use of all 

 the waterfalls and steam engines employed as above stated hi 

 Great Britain, omitting to take into account the several huge riv- 

 ers that are tributaries of the St. Lawrence. Such, and on so 

 great a scale, are the ordinary operations of the impulses of phys- 

 ical power employed in the " mechanics of nature," in govern- 

 ing the movements of the waters of a single river, exceeding 

 many fold the portion of physical forces rendered available and 

 employed by all the inhabitants of the earth, as a motive power 

 in the " mechanics of the arts." There is thus furnished an im- 

 pressive lesson to humble the pride of man in his boasted achieve- 

 ments of the triumphs of mind over inert matter. It is well that 

 these considerations should occur to the spectator, whilst he re- 

 gards the cataract of Niagara ; for no where is there exhibited on 

 this earth a more impressive spectacle of the display of energetic 

 physical power. Cold and indifferent, indeed, to the highest at- 

 tributes of omnipotent excellence must be the mind of that human 

 being, who can raise his eyes from the contemplation of this sub- 

 lime work of nature, without a glow of fervent admiration of the 

 " might, majesty and power" of nature's God. 



Providence, R. I., Sept. 15, 1843. 



Art. VIII. — On the Fossil Footmarks of Turner's Falls, Mas- 

 sachusetts ; by James Deane, M. D. — (with a plate.) 



The fine cataract of the Connecticut River that bears the name 

 of Turner's Falls, occurs soon after the entrance of this stream 

 upon the limits of Massachusetts. It receives this distinctive ap- 

 pellation in memory of a military commander, who in the time of 

 Philip's wars, with the loss of a single man of his party, slaughtered 

 in this place three hundred Indians in one encampment. It was 

 however a brief triumph, for he was cut off and slain in his retreat 

 from the contest of extermination. Unlike the prevailing quiet- 

 ness that distinguishes this lovely river, in its passage through the 



Vol. xlvi, No. 1.— Oct.-Dec. 1843. 10 



