54 pp. With a folding salt print photograph. (8vo) 23.5x14 cm (9¼x5¼"), embossed blue cloth with gilt lettering.

This interesting scientific contains a photograph of a sandstone slab, displaying fossil remains, by "Mr. Silisbee, our photographist". Appearing shortly after the "Homes of American Statesmen," this book is the second American publication illustrated with a photograph and the first of scientific interest. This copy contains a very rich example of a salt print, they are usually faded and creased.

In 1835 Dr. James Deane discovered "turkey tracks" in the sandstone rocks of a recently laid sidewalk in his hometown of Greenfield, Massachusetts. Like Dr. Deane, John C. Warren became interested in the "turkey tracks." In this book, Warren notes that "we are indebted to photography for enabling us to represent the remarkable slab from Greenfield, and its numerous objects, in a small space, yet with perfect accuracy." For many years investigators believed that the tracks were the footprints of large ancient birds, reptiles or frogs. Not until 1893 was the mystery of their origin finally solved by the unearthing of a fossilized dinosaur skeleton in the area. John C. Warren, son of a founder of the medical school at Harvard, became a physician and taught at Harvard for nearly forty years. He had many civic interests, was a promoter of physical education in the schools, and towards the end of his life actively involved himself with geology and paleontology, becoming the president of the Boston Society of Natural History.