THE CHEIR O THERIUM. 
217 
his wont, he was busy writing, it suddenly occurred to him 
that these impressions were those of a species of tortoise. 
He therefore called his wife to come down and make some 
paste, while he went and fetched the tortoise from the 
garden. On his return he found the kitchen table covered 
with paste, upon which the tortoise was placed. The 
delight of this scientific couple may be imagined when 
they found that the footmarks of the tortoise on the paste 
were identical with those on the sandstone slab. Lecturing 
one day in Scotland on the fossil footsteps of animals, 
including the Cheirotherium, 1 one of his auditors at the 
end of the lecture referred to his diagrams exhibited, and 
said : “ It seems, Dr. Buckland, from your drawings that all 
your animals walked in one direction.” 
“ Yes,” was the reply. “ Cheirotherium was a Scotchman, 
and he always went south.” 
Professor Buckland finishes his book with the following 
words :— 
“ The whole course of the inquiry which we have now 
conducted to its close, has shown that the physical his¬ 
tory of our globe, in which some have seen only waste, 
disorder, and confusion, teems with endless examples of 
economy, and order, and design ; and the result of all our 
researches, carried back through the unwritten records of 
past time, has been to fix more steadily our assurance of 
the existence of one supreme Creator of all things, to exalt 
more highly our conviction of the immensity of His perfec¬ 
tions, of His might and majesty, His wisdom, and goodness, 
and all-sustaining providence ; and to penetrate our under- 
1 The form, shape, and structure of the creature who made the 
footprints being unknowm, the name of Cheirotherium, or beast with a 
hand, was given to it. 
