. The testimony of the rocks; . ng but three toes on each foot (onespecies of ostrich has but two), or, if a fourth toe be present,so imperfectly is it developed in most of the cases, that itfails to reach the ground. And in almost all the footprintsof the primeval birds of the Connecticut there are onlythree toes exhibited. Peculiar, ill understood laws regulatethe phalangal divisions of the various animals. It is a lawof the human kind, for instance, that the thumb should10* 114 THE PAL^ONTOLOGICAL consist of but three phalanges; while the fingers, even thesmallest, consist .of four. And, in
. The testimony of the rocks; . ng but three toes on each foot (onespecies of ostrich has but two), or, if a fourth toe be present,so imperfectly is it developed in most of the cases, that itfails to reach the ground. And in almost all the footprintsof the primeval birds of the Connecticut there are onlythree toes exhibited. Peculiar, ill understood laws regulatethe phalangal divisions of the various animals. It is a lawof the human kind, for instance, that the thumb should10* 114 THE PAL^ONTOLOGICAL consist of but three phalanges; while the fingers, even thesmallest, consist .of four. And, in the same way, it is a lawgenerally exemplified among birds, that of the three toeswhich correspond to the fingers, the inner toe should becomposed of three phalanges, the middle or largest toe offour phalanges, and the outer toe, though but second inpoint of size, of five phalanges. Such is the law now^ andsuch was equally the law, as shown by the American foot-prints, in the times of the Lias. Some of the impressions Fig. FOSSIL FOOTPRINT. Connecticut. are of singular distinctness. Every claw and phalange hasleft its mark in the stone; while the trifid termination ofthe tarso-metatarsal bone leaves three marks more, — fifteenin all, — the true ornithic number. In some of the speci-mens even the pressure of a metatarsal brush, still possessedby some birds, is distinctly traceable; nay, there are in-stances in which the impress of the dermoid papillae hasremained as sharply as if made in wax. But the immensesize of some of these footprints served to militate for a timefigainst belief in their ornithic origiQ. The impressions that HISTORY OF ANIMALS. 115 are but secondary in point of size greatly exceed those ofthe hugest birds which now exist; while those of the largestclass equal the prints of the bulkier quadrupeds. There aretridactyle footprints in the red sandstones of Connecticutthat measure eighteen inches in length from the heel to themiddle claw, nearly thirtee
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