Footprint

“ We find the fossil bones of some of the dwellers in these woods; the rocks also retain their footprints. The great creatures, marching over the soft earth and mud, made deep tracks, and these remained like casts or moulds as the soil hardened; then sand and other sediment were deposited over them, and so the footprints were encased. The deposit, hardened into rock, has preserved the footprints for thousands of years. Strange that a thing so fleeting as a footprint on sand should remain to tell a story for ages! ”

“ In studying the footprint slabs one frequently comes across some very small impressions, hardly exceeding three inches in length, three-toed, with no indication of a grasping claw behind, nor of a tail trace. One might be apt to attribute these little footprints to the young of the larger species until one notices the great interval between the successive tracks, a distance six to eight times the length of the foot itself. ”

“ It has often happened to geologists, as to other explorers of new regions, that footprints on the sand have guided them to the inhabitants of unknown lands, and such footprints, proverbially perishable, may be so preserved by being filled up with matter deposited in them as to endure for ever. ”

“ Brett and I left you and traversed the watercourse, both up and down. We found a footprint at the top, left lately by a man with a broken shoe. Right down to the bottom of the watercourse where it emerged from the wood there was no sign on either side of this man having left the gravel. (Where the body was, as you will remember, he would simply have stepped off the gravel on to the grass, which I thought it useless to examine, as I have explained.) But at the bottom, by the lane, the footprint appeared again. ”

“ The footprint, I want you to bear in mind, is first of all a picture of all the prominent points on the sole. The ball of the foot, the heel and toes, hoof and claw, each makes its own impress. Even the fishes make theirs with their fins, which to them are hand and foot. This is the wood-dweller’s autograph. More than this, each series of footprints tells a bit of history, perhaps 26 betrays a secret to the instructed eye, and the natural Indian did not neglect to drill his child thoroughly in this important branch of learning. ”

“ Very frequently, though no actual footprint may remain, stones or pebbles will have been turned so as to lie with that side uppermost which has for a long time rested on the ground, and an eye accustomed to observation detects this at once, and will sometimes see, by the condition of the upturned side, whether it has been moved so recently as not yet to be perfectly dried. ”

“ While we are here we may as well clear up the mystery of the luminous footprints, for I see the removal of this square of ceiling has already disclosed a part of the mechanism. You will observe here, a glass tube, above which there are two lead plates. The top plate is movable, and is connected with an electro-magnetic device for moving it. In the bottom plate is cut in miniature, the shape of a human footprint. ”

“ Footprints need little explanation other than a consideration of the factors which make it possible for them to be preserved. The sand or mud must be neither too soft nor too hard to take the form of the foot and retain its shape when the foot is withdrawn. Then in some manner the impression must be protected while the rock-making process goes on. When such protection is obtained it is usually in the form of more mud and sand, deposited over the surface which received the impression. ”

“ Now look at the other footprints; there is a double track, you see, one set coming from the sea and one going towards it. As the man (who was bow-legged and turned his toes in) has trodden in his own footprints, it is obvious that he came from the sea, and returned to it. But observe the difference in the two sets of prints; the returning ones are much deeper than the others, and the stride much shorter. ”

“ They were the footprints of the sand-piper, a bird of which he saw flights daily running along the water's edge, and often leaving thirty or more similar impressions in a straight line, parallel to the borders of the estuary. He picked up some slabs of this dried mud, and splitting one of them up, found a surface within which bore two lines of the same kind of footprints. Here is an example before our living eyes, of the processes concerned in producing and preserving the fossil footprints of the New Red Sandstone. ”

“ As he was about to close the outer door, Chatham arrived on the scene, and the two men re-entered, as we have already seen. The footprints tell their story fully and absolutely, their chronological order being established by the occasional obliteration of a footprint in one trail by another in a subsequent trail. The two men walked back into the room in which we now are. Their actions after this will be clearer to you if you will follow on this diagram. ”

“ After a while the footprints left the deer trail and led off through the woods. I fol- lowed them, and soon emerged on a wagon road. The footprints turned up the road to the left for a few rods. Now to my surprise I saw many other tracks, also a new-made wagon track, the latter appearing to have been heavily loaded. Hay was scattered all along each side of the road.
A light rustle on the road ahead around a curve caused me to jump quietly into the brush, where I could see without being seen. A man soon hove in sight. ”

“ Stalked those birds unknown, that have left us only their footprints.
What, in a few short years, will remain of thy race but the footprints?
How canst thou walk these streets, who hast trod the green turf of the prairies! ”

“ The next moment I was smiling at the idea. A being that is merely a figment of the brain cannot be credited with the power of making footprints in snow, yet deep footprints there were leading up the steps, and terminating at the threshold of the door; footprints newly-formed, whose shape and size assured me were not my own.
I drew back to take a survey of the house in which George had evidently taken refuge. A brief inspection of the dwelling failed to afford any clue as to the character of the occupants. ”

“ Still, tracks are a safe guide in the long run, and, whether our opinion as to them be correct or not, the rambler finds something worth seeing, and he goes on anything but a wild-goose chase who sometimes finds himself mistaken. It is well to check our confidence occasionally and realize the limits of our power.
Opportunity afforded while in camp, and I made a short study of footprints. With a field-glass I noted many birds, and then going to the spot, examined the impressions their feet had made. ”

“ Had he bounded across the creek? Wide as it was, the possibility had been considered from the first, and, when the seconds were well along, the leader called to those on the other side to examine the margin for the imprints of the Indian's moccasins. Striking with such force, the dents would be in sight from across the stream. As it was easy to identify the spot where he made the leap, it was equally easy to determine the precise point where the telltale footprints should appear.
But the minute scrutiny of the edge of the creek proved that no moccasin had touched it. ”

“ It occurred to me that when we read of hunters, or perhaps have followed a trapper in his rounds, we have been led to think that footprints are animal autography that the initiated can read without hesitation. ”

“ The formation of the slabs, and the preservation of the footprints, are processes which the geologist can easily explain. A beach on which animals have left the marks of their feet, becomes sufficiently hardened to retain the impressions; another layer of sand or mud is laid down by perhaps the next tide, covering up the first, and protecting it from all subsequent injury. ”

“ Where gravel is the material to complete the road with, I have already mentioned, that it ought to be completely cleansed of every particle of clay or earthy substance, and its different sizes ought to be selected and arranged by means of riddling or washing; in the use of the riddle, the particles of earth or clay adhere so much to the stones that it frequently requires to be exposed to the sun, air, and frost, for several months, and then riddled over again. ”

“ There are but two ways in which the value of a rock as a road material can be accurately determined. One way, and beyond all doubt the surest, is to build sample roads of all the rocks available in a locality, to measure the traffic and wear to which they are subjected, and keep an accurate account of the cost both of construction and annual repairs for each. ”

“ The subjects of forest surveying and working plans are intimately related. Maps are indispensable in the practical work of making a forest working plan. Topographic mapping, timber estimating, forest description, and the location of logging roads, trails, and fire lines, together with Silvics and a knowledge of growth and yield—these and many other subjects enter into the making of a practical working plan to harvest a forest crop and secure a second growth of timber. The student should get all the practice he can in marking timber for cutting under such a plan. ”

“ When footpaths occur we have the option whether to take them or no. (In future, as I have observed, all footpaths will no doubt be de rigueur.) A footpath took us to Lower Morden and another footpath took us through much mud, to farms, to old houses with meadows in front of them, and fine trees with many angles. The path degenerated from a rolling series of cart ruts to a faint track along the margin of a field, and faded away at last into wormrun grass. ”

“ As soon as the right of way is cleared, the work of excavation and embankment construction is begun. In locating the road the engineer has settled upon certain stretches and grades which are right lines and which define the top surface of the roadbed. The lines of these levels and grades in some places cut the natural surface of the ground and in other places they lie above the ground surface so that the roadbed has to be filled in. So far as he can do so without sacrificing more important things, the engineer endeavors to make the adjacent cuts and fills balance each other ”

“ We climb. There is a trace rather than a foot-path;—no visible soil, only vegetable detritus, with roots woven over it in every direction. The foot never rests on a flat surface,—only upon surfaces of roots; and these are covered, like every protruding branch along the route, with a slimy green moss, slippery as ice. ”

“ The foundation to receive the metal, if the natural roadbed is not used and the bed is of soft earth, should be rolled until it is hard and compact. It should also conform to the same slope as the road when finished from center to sides. ”

“ The earth road-bed on which the surface formation is to rest is to be excavated to the required depth, and when graded and shaped to its proper form, it is to be thoroughly and repeatedly rolled with a steam roller, and all depressions which then appear are to be filled with the same material as the road-bed, and rolled until the whole be uniformly compact and firm. ”

“ In removing the metal from the old road, whenever hollows present themselves in the old bed, it is recommended that they be filled with earth; indeed, the whole bed of the road should be elevated, and its form given to it, before any of the covering of stone be replaced. The earth necessary for this may be taken from the ditches, or even from the sides of the road, where it can be done without encroaching upon the privileges of persons residing on the road. ”

“ Only in two cases—one, the rare event of an expedition over fog-bound snow being continued with the intention of return over the same line; and two, equally singular, the case of a party, which contains only one mountaineer capable of leading the return route, attempting in mist a climb whose difficulty will necessitate the expert going last on the descent—would the use of red paper seem to be justified. Waste paper is inelegant, and makes an unimpressive substitute for hill craft. ”

“ It involves a thorough study of the kinds of timber, their amount and location, their rate of growth, their value, the ease or difficulty of their reproduction, and the methods by which the [Pg 52] timber can be cut at a profit and at the same time the reproduction of the forest can be safely secured. A working plan usually includes a considerable number of maps, which often have to be drawn in the first place from actual surveys on the ground by the Forest Examiner. ”

“ But these modern implements are mathematically correct, with never a chip in the wrong place. The friction of the sand and the action of the atmosphere always causes a polish on the ancient implements, and to effect this on the modern implements, which are somewhat dull on being first chipped, they are buried for some weeks in hot sand, and care is taken when they are removed to leave some of this adhering. And when you express doubts as to the genuineness of the implements, the vendors triumphantly point out the soil which still adheres. ”

“ He estimates that this amount, if spread over the whole area drained by the rivers, represents, on an average, an annual loss of about 1/6000 of a foot; but inasmuch as the erosion of the slopes and watercourses is very much greater than that of the more level grounds, the excavation of the valleys must proceed at a more rapid rate, which he assumes to be about 1/1200 Part of a foot per annum, or one foot in 1,200 years. ”

“ Our manufacturers make and use more than two hundred and seventy-five different kinds of paper, including newsprint, boxboard, building papers, book papers and many kinds of specialty papers. The forest experiment stations would help solve the practical problems of these many industries. They could work out methods by which to maintain our forests and still turn out the thirty-five to forty billion board feet of lumber used each year. ”