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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



taught in the common schools by experi- 

 mental methods." The American Institute 

 of Instruction substantially approved Mr. 

 Woodhull's position, and resolved that in- 

 struction by experimental methods should be 

 given in schools of all grades ; in the pri- 

 mary and grammar grades it should take the 

 form of observation lessons calculated to de- 

 velop the spirit of investigation ; and in the 

 high school " it should undertake to give a 

 thorough training in scientific methods of 

 studying nature rather than a comprehensive 

 knowledge of the whole realm of natural sci- 

 ence." 



Mounds of the Mississippi Basin. — The 



mounds of the Mississippi basin are described 

 by Mr. T. H. Lewis, of St. Paul, as being of a 

 magnitude and extent calculated to surprise 

 those who have not examined them. There 

 are thousands of them in Mississippi and 

 Arkansas, and probably thousands in Min- 

 nesota. The author's own personal surveys 

 in Minnesota now exceed one thousand, and 

 the localities of at least as many more are 

 known. The mounds in Mississippi — in the 

 bottom-lands — are burial-mounds, and in addi- 

 tion to human remains usually contain earth- 

 en vessels and pipes of all sizes and shapes, 

 with occasionally flint and stone implements 

 and articles of copper. The clay mounds of 

 Arkansas and of the bluffs alon? the Missis- 

 sippi seldom contain any implements or pot- 

 tery. Temple mounds are always associated 

 with mounds of other forms, and are never 

 isolated. They have approaches or graded 

 roadways built to the summit, and generally 

 have aprons or terraces on their sides. Small- 

 er mounds having the same forms were used 

 for burial purposes. Platform mounds are 

 another class of temple mounds, and have 

 from one to four approaches. Some of 

 them are also known to contain human re- 

 mains. Of a class of mounds called hearth 

 mounds the purpose is difficult to determine. 

 They hardly ever reach four feet in height, 

 and the hearth is covered with earth from 

 three inches to two feet in depth. The 

 hearths vary in thickness from one and a 

 half to thirteen inches. The low flat mounds 

 of Minnesota and Dakota are often regarded 

 as the remains of dwelling-houses of the ab- 

 origines. The theory is that poles were set 

 up and sods were afterward placed upon the 



outside ; and that the poles having rotted 

 away, the structure fell to the center, and 

 in the course of a few years the top became 

 leveled by the accumulation of dust and 

 vegetation, so that a mound was formed. 

 The Indians used the mode of structure de- 

 scribed ; but it could hardly have been ap- 

 plied in these mounds, for such a structure, 

 having once fallen, would have become an 

 irregular mass with a concave top, and an 

 opening on the side where the entrance had 

 been — presenting a different appearance 

 from the mounds. None of the mounds of 

 Minnesota, in the author's opinion, were suit- 

 able for use as the base of pueblos ; and he 

 finds no evidence that the large flat mounds 

 of the lower valley were of that character. 



The Australasian Scientific Association. 



— The Australasian Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science met in Melbourne early 

 in January. Baron von Mueller was presi- 

 dent. The roll of membership included a 

 thousand names, and more than six hundred 

 were in actual attendance. The president's 

 address dealt with the past and future of 

 Australasian science ; and the addresses of 

 the presidents of sections were in many 

 cases on subjects of particular interest in 

 Australia. The most important of the com- 

 mittee reports was that on the census of the 

 known minerals of the Australian colonies. 

 A project for establishing and endowing a 

 central biological station at Port Jackson 

 was started. A report was presented on the 

 Polynesian races and Polynesian bibliogra- 

 phy. New special committees were ap- 

 pointed to investigate and report on the sub- 

 jects of wheat-rust ; the manner of laying 

 out towns ; the preparation of geological 

 maps; the arrangement of museums; the 

 fertilization of figs ; Australian tides ; and 

 the present state of knowledge of Austral- 

 asian paleontology. The next meeting is to 

 be held in Christ-church, New Zealand, with 

 Sir James Hector as president and Prof. 

 Hutton as secretary ; and the next in Hobart, 

 Tasmania. 



An Arizona Sqnirrel. — A rare squirrel, 

 new to the Territory of Arizona, is described 

 by Mr. Edgar A. Mearns as the round-tailed 

 spermophile (SpwmopMlus tereticaudics, 

 Baird). It is the most abundant and 



