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THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

THE

CARSON FOSSIL FOOTPRINTS.

DAVIDSON.

THE

CARSON FOSSIL FOOTPRINTS.

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DAVIDSON, ^-^^j^

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[From the "Mining and Scientific Press," San Francisco, August 6, 1883.]

THE CARSON FOSSIL FOOTPRINTS.

lieport of Prof. Geo. Davidson, President California Academy of Sciences.

Upon representing to the Board of Trustees
that more footprints had been laid bare within
the State prison limits near Carson, Mr. Gibbes
and myself were authorized by the Board to pro-
ceed to Carson and make an examination. By
arrangement, Prof. W. P. Blake, of Yale Col-
lege, accompanied us, and promised to make a
report of his views. But the work of all was
in great measure inseparable, except that Mr.
Gibbes remained one or two days beyond our
time, in order to make some casts. The descrip-
tions of all can therefore differ but slightly, it
is left, however, to each to draw his own con-
clusions. A detailed description of the locality
and of the peculiarities need not be introduced,
because they have already been in great meas-
ure presented to the Academy by Messrs. Hark-
ness, Le Conte and Gibbes. What strikes the
visitor at first is the fact that the friable ma-
terials of the two "floors" heretofore referred to
are liable to dislocation and

Destruction by Weathering,

Cleaning, and the ordinary trafl&c of working
convicts and visitors over them. And I must
confess to some disappointment in not seeing
more marked characteristics of the footprints
on the lower floor, because in the published
drawings there is no varying degrees of desig-
nation to footprints that are deeply imprinted,
or to those that are barely traceable. Of this,
however, I shall speak hereafter. But I was
very strongly impressed with the vividness of
some of the impressions on the upper floor, and
of their teachings; and fearing that they would
in time lose their great value in the earth's
natural history, I made arrangements with Mr.
Frank Bell, the Warden of the State prison, to
have them reproduced by making casts of the

more important. And here I wish to expresfs
the thanks of the party to Mr. Bell for his
prompt arid intelligent assistance, and for his
his generous entertainment during our stay.
To him and his oflBcers we owe acknowledg-
ment for their interest in searching for and pre-
serving every probable footprint, fossil shell,
fragment of bone or tusk, and casts of pine cones.

Mammotii Remains and Bain Drops.

One of the first things to strike the eye upon
entering the prison precincts, is the thin layer
or stratum of hard clay immediately over a thirty-
foot stratum of fine blue sandstone. On this clay
layer are sharp and deep rain drops or hail
markings, which are found even in the faint
impresses of a mammoth's feet, leading to a point
where the same surface is not marked by such
rain drops, but is irregularly smooth, as if lain
upon by a huge body some twelve feet in ex-
treme length by about three feet in greatest
width. The foot prints are eighteen inches in
diameter, and I did not notice any beyond this
peculiarly marked spot. In the history of the
earlier excavations it is said that a mass of
bones was found at this spot, and removed as
if of no merit.

And it is also reported that ten years since
there was found, at a locality not accurately
known, an elephant tusk, or a part of a tusk,
which was ten inches in diameter at the base,
seven and one-half feet long to the point, which
was the thickness of a man's wrist and turned up.

Megatheroid Footprints—
The So-called Man.

But leaving the fainter and more doubtful
marks and tracks which one soon learns to
trace out and identify, I come to the two

^ )l /■

principal series of tracks, important both on
account of their size and their preservation.

One of them is the series designated No. 1 in
Mr. Gibbes' canvas drawings and in the pub-
lished plans. This series is in a great measure
Protected outside the present face of the cliff
y a wooden cover which is only raised when
visitors are examining the foot prints; but Mr.
Gibbes says that these tracks are certainly not
in as good condition now as they were before
the last winter. Audit is reasonableto assert that
with every rain, with every frost, every new cast
made, every personal examination by inquisitive
and sacriligious hands, these hieroglyphics
must suffer in sharpness and accuracy of detail.

Tlie animal which made these footprints ap-
pears to have been moving from the cliff out-
ward— using the term cliff for reference only —
and since the first visit of Dr. Harkness and Mr.
Gibbes and Prof. Le Conte, a short drift or tun-
nel has been run into the cliff exposing other
footprints and also the footprints of a mammoth
intermingled.

The indications point to the great probability
of the two animals being there at or very near
the same time, because one of the footprints of
the mammoth obliterates one of the footprints
of the preceding animal.

And here it is proper to state that I use the
term mammoth provisionally. The diagram
designated series No. 1 continued, illustrates
nearly to scale this combination of footprints;
those only partly exposed are to be uncovered
in the casts.

Upon a minute examination of some of the
footprints of the first animal or the so-called man,
and the material in which these prints were made,
a very striking fact was demonstrable.

A lower stratum of mud had been formed, had
dried considerably, and the surface was seem-
ingly quite firm, suffering very little impres-
sion to be made in it. Above this had been de-
posited another layer of mud about three-fourths
of an inch thick and apparently quite suft.
There is no doubt on this point of the two layers,
because the upper layer of three-fourths inch is
in parts removed and is removable, and is in
places lying ready to be swept away, so that
there is no assumption of the existence of these
two layers. The existence, consistency, and re-
lation of these two layers is very important in a
study of the footprints. The foot of the animal
in its deliberate walk, and with its great weight,
would very easily press from under it all, or
nearly all, of the material of the softer upper
layer, especially if the lower layer were unyield-
ing or nearly so. And if this upper soft layer
were not yet *'set" it is very likely that part of
the material would settle back when the foot
was removed. Moreover, if the lower layer
were in that stiff, yet sticky condition which
most of us have experienced in walking, riding
or driving through adobe soils, there would be
occasional lifting up of some parts of that layer
by its sticking to the sole of the foot.

Now, upon careful examination, this result
is clearly exhibited in several of these foot-

prints; the foot pressed the softer material of
the upper layer from under it and rested on the
stiffer layer beneath it, and when the animal
raised its foot the softer material, though quite
soft, was not thir) enough to flow back into the
print, so that a fair marginal edge may, in
some instances, be traced. Again, when that
foot was raised, or when the second foot was
raised from the same track, it lifted with it an
irregular area of unequal thickness from the
more tenacious layer beneath. In some places
this removed area goes out to the border of the
imprint, and in no two instances is it identical
in shape or location. Where the surface of the
lower stratum is not wholly removed by such
adhesion of the stiffer mud to the sole of the
foot, there is, in some cases, a narrow border a
few inches long and an inch or more in breadth
of it smoothed apparently by the slightly for-
ward or backward slip of the foot when lifted,
just as would happen to-day to an animal walk-
ing over a stiff adobe soil. The soft unctuous
character of the upper stratum naturally aided
this slipping movement, no matter how little
it may have been.

It is these pieces of smoothed, narrow border
which have been aggregated to form the san-
daled foot of a so-called man. But I am con-
vinced that a study of the facts which are now
presented, and the whole appearance of the
surface roughened by the lifting of part of the
lower stratum, lead to the conclusion that no
sandaled foot was necessary to produce the im-
pression indicated. Other facts to be men-
tioned will sustain this deduction.

Two or more foot prints exhibit other in-
teresting minutiae of detail. At what may be
supposed the heel of the animal's foot, the in-
ner sloping of the soft marginal mud shows
distinctly a series of lines as if made by a mass
of hair or other similar material attached to
the foot; and at what may be supposed may be
the toe end of the animal's foot, the inner slop-
ing of the same layer of softer mud indicates
that when the foot was lifted the forward part
had a slight movement inward,

I examined these markings carefully to see if,
by any possibility, minute remains of hair or
other material might be still attached to the
mud. And where so much of interest is cen-
tered it seemed exceedingly important that a
member of the academy should be present
whenever any new drifts are to be made be-
cause the minutest details should be gathered.
This was carried out at the opening of the last
two mammoth tracks, when Dr. Harkness and
Prof. Joseph Le Conte and Mr. Gibbes were
present.

In this series of tracks it may be safely as-
serted that there are no two which are exactly
alike in outline or imprint, whatever significance
may be attached to that fact.

In the line of these tracks, or at least in the
pathway of 20 of them, reckoning from the
half-exposed one in the drift, there are no other
tracks except the three or four mammoth tracks
at the drift, or tunnel under the cliff, and somg

[The following was inadvertently omitted in
printing. See X mark, page o, first column.]
outer one is not so perfect as the inner one, yet
each indicates that the foot pressed through
about four inches of mud and raised a moder-
ately broad margin of one inch in height, thus
making the apparent depth five inches; and this
depth was not in one layer of mud, but at least
two are indicated by the annexed drawing.
These are the two tracks which were first ex-
posed to Dr. Harkness, Mr. Gibbes and Prof.
LeConte, and described by them.

In the outside tracks there is nothing to indi-
cate in which direct" on the apparently round-
footed animal was moving; but in the two best
preserved examples there is a decided duplica-
tion on the margin of each in the line of march,
but not extending to the depth or the breadth
of the whole foot. The footprint exhibits the
exposed addition as a segment having a chord of
about one- third of the diameter, or less than
one half the diameter, of the main imprint.
Each of these two principal footprints is twenty
inches across at right angles to the line of march.

I examined carefully for finer markings on the
margins of the priats, but could see no evi-
dences of any other indentations as if from
toe-pads, etc. This addition at the margin
either indicates the duplication of the footprint,
or it affords a clue to the shape of the foot. The
hind feet would appear to have stepped into the
print of the forefeet with great regularity, but
I could see no evidences of any other indenta-
tions, as if from toe-pads, etc.

It would be extremely interesting to have at
least two more of these footprints expo<»ed,
and that the members should again scrupulously
and minutely examine them when they are
brought to light, and at once obtain casts undc r
the most favorable conditions of freshness, etc.
Tablets of the Footprints to be Made.

These two series of great footprints just de-
scribed seemed to me so valuable in paleonto-
logical investigations that I laid down a plan to
reproduce them as nearly as practicable in their
present condition and relation. For this pur-
pose Messrs. Blake and Gibbes and myself have
measured a line through each, and at eaph foot-
print in the first series described, and including
the well marked birds' tracks, a series of de-
termined oflfsei-s indicated by drilled holes, has
been so arranged that each plaster cast will
contain two of these holes, and each footprint
will be numbered.

From these casts v/e hope to be able to re-
construct, in sections, a tablet for series No. 1,
not less than forty-six feet long and three feet
wide for the greater part, and about six feet
wide at the part under the cliff, where the two
animals crossed in their march.

In the line of mammoth tracks, a central
line was laid down, and offset measures'will be
made at each imprint to properly locate and

orient the same. The length of this series will
be about forty feet, and should two fresh tracks
be uncovered, it will reach forty -nine feet in
length.

That these representations of the actual
tracks will be of great importance, goes for the
saying; and already inquiries have been made
for copies on behalf "of the Smithsonian Insti-
tution, for the museum at Paris, for the Cen-
tral Park, New York (through D. 0. Mills),
etc. This work is now being done under the
direction of Mr. Frank Bell.

Length of Stride, etc

As determined by Mr. Gibbes, the pathway
of the mammoth tracks is about thirty-six inches
broad, and the breadth of what has been de-
nominated the straddle is nineteen inches. My
measures of the average longitudinal distance
apart of the imprints of the eastern steps is, for
five spaces, eight feet eight inches, and for four
spaces of the imprints of the western steps, is
eight feet nine inches. The imprints are not
evenly separated, the range being nearly two
feet.

For the quadruped of the first series, the ao-
cailed man, the longitudinal distance apart of
the imprints of the right feet for nine spaces is
four feet ten inches, and for nine spaces of the
left imprints, four feet nine inches.

I did not measure the breadth of the straddle
of this series, being satisfied with Mr. Gibbes'
previous measurement of nineteen inches, which
is the same as that of the mammoths.
Footprints of the Elk.

The next series of tracks that we measured
were those which Prof. Blake and myself provis-
ionally, and for reference only, have denominated
the elk. But there is no proof whatever that
they were made by an elk. We could not make
out any one footprint specifically, because the
mud layer had been too soft and deep, and the
animal evidently had sharp feet, or hoofs, M'hich
went down deeply, as if the animal were quite
heavy. But we felt satisfied of the direction in
which the animal was moving. We did not
preserve the strict line of march of the animal,
but measured the distance apart of the consecu-
tive imprints and the breadth of the straddle.

The imprints appear to have been made by a
second foot treading in or very nearly in the
track of the first. The prints average 4^ inches
long and 3^ inches broad. The breadth of the
straddle is 13 inches, and the longitudinal dis-
tance apart of the imprints of 7 ti-acks on one
side is 6 feet 2 inches, and of 6 tracks on the
other side is the same.

The diagram exhibits the distances measured
from one footprint on one side to the next foot-/
print on the other side, and these distances ar^
]aid down for an average path ay. Five feet
from the line of the above prints were footprints
which might have been made by a deer or some
similarly cloven hoofed animal.

bird tracks from the heel of the ninth to the marked near one of the large quadruped imprinta

toe of the tenth animal track. These bird which Mr. Gibbes has referred to in his first

tracks will be referred to hereafter. description as "several confused tracks of a man

This series, as heretofore described, is on the and some large animal" (page 2), but these latter

"upper floor," two feet above the "lower floor" bird tracks were in a short curved path and the

of the published diagrams, and on the same pace irregular.

"upper floor" are the imprints of the mam- In those measured the step or pace was twenty

moth line. This series has no designating and one half inches, the length of the middle

number in the pubhshed diagram. toe four and one half inches, of the two side

Footprints of the Mammoth, tl IZZ^t ^a ^'^^'^Iu? ^""^ .''''^ ^^^^ ^°^^^"'

or Elephant and of the hmd and thinner toe two and one

or Jiiepnant;. fourth inches. In this track the hind toe was

In the series of mammoth tracks, and I pointing inward, both for the left and right foot.

think we may safely assume them to belong to The wader which made these tracks would be

some species of elephant, I selected a line of that of a good sized heron or crane.

ten for casts. These tracks are not of uniform

depth on account of the partial destruction of
the different layers of mud through which the
animal's feet pressed. Those imprints farthest
away from the present face of the cliff are dis-
cernible through the lowest layer of mud; and

Footprints of the Tiger.

I use this term provisionally. On the lower
floor are several lines of tracks, some of which

^^^^ ._„e,^ _^_ „. , „ are very obscure as to details of structure, but

they rested upon a subsurface ripple-marked f.PPai^^^t}y made by a four- clawed animal. Our

stratum without obliterating or changing any jj^^^ted time forbade us examining all of these

of the ripple marks. This substratum had, ,"^f , inmutely, but we traced four pairs of

therefore, been hardened before the animal ^^^^}^, tracks of another animal, which we have

walked over it. As we approach the face of Provisionally designated a tiger, and of which

the cliff the imprints are more distinctly ex- ^ Present a drawing. The animal was bounding

hibitedand we are able to measure the inside *''omthe line of the cliff towards the N. N. W.,

diameter of the foot at right angles to the line ^"^ unfortunately the surface of the stratum im-

of march at 21 or 22 inches. Between the P^^^^^ed has been badly scarred by rocks tumbled

fourth and fifth imprints, reckoning from the "P^^ ^^ ^° quarrying. The first pair of tracks

last ones exposed in the drift or tunnel under
the cliff, there are footprints of the same
species of bird which has marked the sur-
face in so many places.

The two last exposed mammoth footprints are
within and under the cliff, and although the

I use the term provisionally; they may be

is obscure; the next three pairs very well
marked, the marks of the nails in the extended
claws being clearly impressed, and the toe-pads
also. On the same horizon are the tracks of the
same species of bird as already described, and
also the faint impress of the so-called man.
These latter are fairly well outlined by the fact

long to the peccary. Close under the' cliff,' near *{^^* there has undergone, in the compressed

the series No. 1, we found a line of tracks made .^y ^^ "^"^' a certain oxidation of iron which

by an animal with a sharp pointed, broad heeled f^^®^ l*^ ^^^ ^^^^r to the imprint. But one of

hoof. Whether this was a cloven hoof, we J^^^J latter footprints is certainly duplicated at

could not decide, because the impressions were ;^ , ^J as if one foot had stepped nearly in the

made in quite soft mud into which the foot of ^^^^^ ^l another, and at the outer tiger tracks it

the animal must have sunk two or more inches, ^®^"^^' y'om the impression, that these were

and when retracted each hole was in a great Y^ ^ ^^^^ *^^ impress of this so-called man

measure closed. The best two prints give the *rack.

length of the impression 2^ inches, and the ^ J^^S® ^y *^® increased length of the sue-

breadth of the heel 2 inches. cessive strides, as well as by the extended

We measured the relations of 10 of them and ^^aws, that the animal was bounding. Beyond

found the average straddle was 8 inches, and *Jlf ^^^* Pa^'' ^f tracks the horizon is destroyed,

the average longitudinal distance apart of the T l^ are tracks of an unknown animal a little

consecutive imprints of the 5 of the left feet is *^ *"® right of the prolongation of these tracks;

2 feet 9 inches; and of the right feet is 2 feet apparently it had four sharp pointed toes or

7 inches. But the range of these distances is 7 ^^ws. Beyond these indefinite ones occur two

inches, and of the straddle over 4 inches. The P^\7 ®/ tracks which might be made by a

pathway was not straight, nor was the mud ^^^' °^ *^®^^ Mr. Gibbes has taken casts,

quite uniform in stiffness. The footprints of .,, accompanying diagram is introduced to

each side indicate that each hind foot exactly, "lustrate the general character and relative

or very nearly, covered each corresponding fore- P^^^ition of the tiger tracks, except as to direc-

foot. *^®^' as the animal swerved somewhat to the

Footprints of a Large Bird. 1^^*- The left feet impressions are larger than

^ ... ^ those of the right, and at the third pair, either

Of the numerous prints of a four-toed bird we the left foot slipped back or there was a dupli-

selected four for measurement because the line cation. I incline to the former explanation-

was nearly straight and the distance nearly and it will be noticed that in the alternate

even. Other imprints were even more distinctly pairs the left foot is at a greater distance for-

ward of the right foot, as 12 and 12 to 6 and 2
inches.

The average straddle is only 5 inches; the
consecutive longitudinal distances between the
left toe of each pair are respectively 4 feet 8
inches, 5 feet 6 inches, and 6 feet 6 inches. I
have not drawn the imprints to scale, nor have
I been accurate in details of structure, because
casts will be made of them. The positions and
sizes of the bird and so-called man tracks are
only approximated in the drawing as of sec-
ondary importance in this relation.

Footprints of the Horse.

By removing some quarried rocks Mr. Bell
exhibited a line of tracks which seemed to
have been made by a horse, because the impress
of two of the best of them showed satisfactorily
the existence of the frog of the horse's foot.
The depth of the first one had preserved it
from injury in quarrying, etc., and at the bot-
tom the length was five inches and the breadth
four inches; at the surface the length was six
inches. These imprints indicated to my eye
that the foot was more like that of a mule
than a horse; and as my party is constantly
using both animals in our geodetic surveys we
are somewhat familiar with the different foot-
prints.

The average longitudinal distance apart of
the imprints of the right side is five feet, two
inches; of the left side five feet, three inches;
and the breadth of the straddle is about four
inches, but the line of travel is not straight.
The accompanying diagram illustrates upon the
same scale as the others the stride and size of
the footprints of this animal.

Nearly parallel with this line of march are
several other lines of apparently a similar ani-
mal, but the imprints are relatively obscure as
to structural details. The general features,
however, are similar.

Footprints of a Bos.

Provisionally we have referred to this animal
as the "nondescript." Close under the eastern
clifi" there is seen the impresses of five feet.
The animal was apparently a short stepper, had
cloven hoofs, and a body so heavy that the feet
sank deeply into the soft mud layer, probably
to a harder layer below. It would appear that
when the foot was withdrawn the mud was in
such a plastic condition that it inflowed suffi-
ciently to obliterate the bottom marking of
the hoof. The surface of the layer is marked
by heavy rain drops, and there are bird tracks
near it.

There are only five of these footprints, when
the animal turned to the left and the horizon is
lost. The average longitudinal distance apart
of the left imprints is two feet two inches; and
the average longitudinal distance of the consec-
utive footprints, one foot one inch; and the
straddle six inches.

So far as measurements could be fairly made,
the average length of the double hoof was three
and three-fourths inches, and the breadth nearly

three inches. Three of them were two and
three-fourths inches broad at the heel, and two
consecutive ones first before the animal turned
were three and a half broad.

These imprints present somewhat the appear-
ance of a heifer's tracks, and Capt. Hooper, of
the U. S. Revenue Marine, who has had the ex-
perience of two seasons in the Arctic, says they
immediately suggested the reindeer tracks to
him, although the latter are broader.

A Fine Curved Line.

Near these imprints is a sharp, double- looped
curve cut in the soft mud. It is roughly indi-
cated on the canvas from memory. It is a fine-
cut line ranging from one-half to one millimeter
across, and less than that deep. I removed
some crystals from one part of it to test its hav-
ing been made at the same time as the nonde-
script.

Footprints of the Dog

A line of tracks provisionally assumed to be
those of a dog exhibit a peculiarity of gait,
which is shown in the unfinished drawing, in-
stead of progressing with apparently alternate
steps, we see a progression by alternate pairs;
r. e., two steps rather close to each other or
side of the line of march, then a wider space to
similar tracks on the other side of the line of
march.

The structural details are moderately good.

Another drawing of similar but larger foot-
prints was made by Mr. Gibbes; it exhibits
this peculiarity of gait still more markedly, for
the prints of the close pairs are only 4^ inches
apart, and the distance apart of the pairs is 14^
inches.

There were other footprints which we had
not time to measure, but, which may prove of
great interest; especially as two or more of
them may possibly have been made by web-
footed birds.

The Published Diagrams Should
be Corrected.

A pressure of other duties has compelled me
to be much briefer than the subject demands.
I have endeavored to state the facts as they have
appeared to my eye and to a steel tape line. I
had no theory to advance in making the exami-
nation, but I could not help having convictions
forced upon me which were made stronger with
each new phase of the investigation. But in the
first place I wish to call attention to the dia-
grams published under the auspices of the
academy, and therefore making it responsible
for the results. The work had been done with
great conscientiousness, but there is nothing in
the diagrams to indicate whether a footprint,
especially of the so-called man, is obscure, or
whether it is distinct and well marked, as in
series No. 1. Now, as a matter of fact, these
footprints on the lower floor are mainly very
faint indications, and would most likely have
left no outline from the removal of the upper
and softer layer, but that there is a develop-
ment of the red oxide of iron in what was the

lower clay surface wherever the animal placed
its feet.

Therefore, in so far as the diagram is con-
cerned, these facts should be; as they can be,
fairly and properly indicated by different depths
of shading, etc.

Secondly, in the diagram of the mammoth
footprints and other tracks at the southeast
angle of excavation there are two matters that
need rectification as misleading. First, the
legend, "Impression of the Body of an Animal."
Now, as a matter of fact, this is only a report
that has been handed down in the history of
the earlier excavations, for the floor is removed
and nothing whatever is left to indicate this
problematical "impression."

Thirdly, near the same place on the dia-
gram are five round, full tracks described with
others, in the text as " several confused tracks
of a man and some large animal." This
"large animal," referring to what made the
round tracks; but these apparently different
tracks were all made by the same animal, the
so-called man. When this animal came to this
part of the mud deposit it found itself in soft
mud, into which the feet sank about four
inches, apparently to hard, coarse sandstone
beneath, and it possibly made a turn to avoid
being bogged. One of these round tracks has
had the center core of coarse sandstone removed
by Mr. Bell, and the result is a display of one
of the long footprints, and the others are cer-
tainly footprints of the same animal, produced
at the same time, but these prints are yet all
filled up. Whether this filling is from the
supposed deposit of coarse sand, as in the one
cleaned out, or whether from " balling" of the
foot, remains to be proven. I have written to
Mr. Bell, asking him to make an examination of
the matter.

And here it may be suggested that in this
very locality we might reasonably expect to
find more important footprints and possible re-
mains, especially if the animal became bogged
in this soft mud.

The So-called Man is a Quadruped.

The question of the quadrupedal character of
the footprints of the so-called man having been
raised by high authority, it was a matter of in-
terest to ascertain if there was any indication
of duplication of footprints; that is, whether
the hind foot was placed unsymmetrically over
the back of the forefoot. I have already stated
that in series No. 1 there are no two tracks
which are exactly alike, and that in the line of
the wolf's tracks one of the imprints of the foot
of the so-called man is apparently duplicated.
Other indications of duplication are to be found
in the different series on the lower floor, and in

more than one instance a secondary side im-
press on one side only of the animal is as clearly
indicated as the impress itself. So marked was
this in one instance that a plaster cast had been
taken of the two, and I examined the original
to find the smaller secondary clearly made out
but the larger and inside track mostly obliter-
ated by the wheels of carts carrying stone from
the quarry.

In this light the evidence seems to me unan-
swerable that the so-called man was a quadru-
ped, and it will require the wiping out of these
duplications before they can be assigned to a
biped.

The question of the assumed sandal of wood
or of rawhide, was clearly solved in my mind
as soon as I made out the existence of the two
layers of mud of different stiffness and tenacity,
already detailed with some minuteness in the
description of the footprints of the series No. 1.
Moreover, in the newly exposed footprints of
the same animal, where the impress is made
several inches deep in the softer soil, there is
no indication whatever of a sandal. Nor in
many footprints which I examined on the
lower floor is there any such suggestive margin.
With the palpable evidences before me, I can
see no other logical deduction that that the
animal was a quadruped; whether a megatheroid
or a bear I leave for the paleontologists to de-
cide. It is the solution of a mechanical
problem by actual graphical demonstration.

Fragmentary Character of Tusks,
Teeth and Bones.

A word more of the character of the deposits
after the mud layers of the upper and lower
floors had been 'covered by them.

The first 10 feet is composed of very sharp,
small grains of sand from disintegrated quartz
and other materials. It has been deposited by
swiftly moving waters as indicated by the
markings of the numerous deposits lying at
many angles, and having been partially cut
away and redeposited many times.

In this stratum are found the jaw bones here-
tofore described by Mr. Gibbes, pieces of ele-
phant tusks, fragments of bone and of teeth,
the tooth of an alephant, of which I furnish a
drawing; and the matrices made by pine cones,
and pieces of wood. All these fossil remains
are fragmentary and scattered, indicating that
they have been water-borne by the strongly
rushing waters which brought down the sands,
and that the source from whence they came was
up the stream at a higher level.

[A series of diagrams to scale was used by
Professor Davidson for reference as he proceeded
with his report.]