56 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



then upon that surface (and we know that there were surface-gravels 

 before the implements were formed) would naturally be drifted into 

 the then existing hollows ; and eventually, as subaerial waters found 

 their way into these valleys, whether filled up partially or entirely, 

 they would, in the course of extended periods of time, form channels 

 through their loose porous beds, and thus originate the existing 

 rivers and streams. 



On a Cheieothekiai^ Footpeint from the Base of the Keupee 

 Sandstone of Daeesbuey, Cheshiee. By Prof. "W. C. William- 

 son, F.E.S. 



(Communicated by the Assistant-Secretary.) 

 [Plate III.] 



The specimen figured in Plate III. was found in the Lower Keuper, 

 at Daresbury Quarry, near Weston Point, Cheshire, a district which 

 is rich in Cheirotherian footprints. The specimen was discovered 

 by Mr. J. Webster Kirkham, one of my old pupils at Owens Col- 

 lege, who has become an indefatigable worker amongst the foot- 

 prints of the Cheshire district. It is obviously a reptilian foot- 

 print, but differs from all that I have hitherto seen in Great Britain 

 in being distinctly that of a scaly animal. The form of the foot- 

 print differs from that of the Common Cheirotherium, which is found 

 associated with it, in being more quadrate, and in the separated 

 toe being less recurved, as well as approaching nearer to the other 

 toes. In its general form it reminds us strongly of the footprints 

 found by Dr. King in the Carboniferous beds of Pennsylvania. This 

 resemblance is further shown in the fact that the specimen only 

 displays four toes, as is the case with the anterior foot of the Ame- 

 rican specimens, though possibly the small projection on the left 

 hand of the footprint opposite the thumb may be the base of a fifth 

 toe, partly obliterated by another footprint of the same creature, 

 which has been impressed upon it. 



The arrangement of the scales corresponds very closely with that 

 seen in the foot of the Alligator. Many of them run across the 

 foot in oblique lines, as is common amongst living Crocodiles, 

 leaving no room for doubt that they represent true scales, and not 

 irregular tubercles, such as are seen on the skin of some Batra- 

 chians. The scales on the toes and at the anterior part of the foot 

 are much smaller than those nearer the posterior region. 



I have not succeeded in ascertaining all the differences that existed 

 between the fore and hind feet. The slab, of which the specimen 

 figured is a fragment, is paddled over with similar footprints, as if 

 the animal had been feeding on the spot ; but one footprint has dis- 

 turbed the outline of another to such an extent that no conti- 

 nuous track can be traced, l^evertheless we have evidence that 

 there were some differences. A httle to the left of the more per- 

 fect impression vrill be seen an imperfect one, with much larger 

 and more oblong scales, especially under the heel. This difference 



