NEW RED SANDSTONE. 201 



limestone of the Taconic system, near Stony point, below Caldwell. The other parts of 

 the rook are a coarse micaceous sandstone ; and a thin-bedded red and black shale, passing 

 into a soft marl, more or less variegated and spotted with green. 



The New Red sandstone is a highly interesting formation. It is rendered so by certain 

 marks or impressions upon the strata, so closely resembling footmarks, that few now doubt 

 the truth of this hypothesis of their origin. The evidence, however, of the truth of this 

 hypothesis, does not rest upon the shape of the impressions alone : these are so exact and 

 uniform, that if there were no other ground for this belief, it would be difficult to maintain 

 that they had any other origin than that now ascribed to them. In addition to this evi- 

 dence, is that which is drawn from tlnir position with respect to each other; for example, 

 where a series of footmarks are in a line, the toes turn alternately to the right and left, 

 precisely like the tracks made by birds when walking upon mud or sand. There is a 

 uniformity, too, in regard to the number of toes ; being usually three before, and some- 

 times the impression of the hind claw. There are also the swellings between the joints 

 of the toes ; so that in all those points in which they may be compared with the footprints 

 of animals, it is found that the agreement is so exact, that we are forced to admit that the 

 marks in question were made by shore birds travelling upon the beach, while the rock 

 was being deposited. Numerous species of birds existed at this period, inasmuch as the 

 tracks are of various sizes, beginning with the tracks of our small sandpiper, and ending 

 with those twice as large as the tracks of the ostrich. 



Footmarks have been found by Mr. Redfield in New-Jersey, not many miles from the 

 New-York State line. President Hitchcock and Dr. Dean of Greenfield (Mass.) , have 

 been the most successful cultivators of this branch of palaeontology. 



Other marks are often found upon the smooth red shale, of a rounded shape, which are 

 usually called fossil rain-drops. These marks, however, are questionable in their origin, 

 inasmuch as bubbles issuing from a muddy bottom often produce like appearances in the 

 mud after it has become indurated by exposure to the sun and air; still there is no great 

 objection to the conjecture that they were made by the pattering of drops of water upon a 

 soft surface. We can see no objection to the notion that it might have rained in the era 

 of this sandstone, as well as on the 4th of July, 1846. 



This rock is distinguished from others, by peculiar fossil fishes. They belong to the 

 dark shaly part ; and what makes the palaeontology of the rock interesting, is the absence 

 of mollusca and conchifera. The fish are solitary, and seem to have been the sole pos- 

 sessors of the Red Sandstone sea. 



[Agricultural Report.] 26 



