Animals of the Past

Written when 'dinosaur' was still a new word in most homes: the American Museum's own guide to sea-serpents of Kansas, birds with teeth, and why great creatures vanish — with Charles R. Knight's famous restorations.

Impressions of the Past

2 pages in this part of Animals of the Past.

Impressions of the Past

"The weird palimpsest, old and vast, Wherein thou hid'st the spectral past."

Impressions of the Past: Deane

The now famous tracks in the "brown stone" of the Connecticut Valley seem to have first been seen by Pliny Moody in 1802, when he ploughed…

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Animals of the Past (1901) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored plates, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.