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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



There were also holes in the upper rooms, which may have been 

 used for peep-holes. Beyond these rooms the wall continued one 

 hundred and thirty feet farther, and the space was divided into 

 rooms of unequal length. The appearance of the place impressed 

 Mr. Jackson as indicating that the family were in good circum- 

 stances. These are single specimens of a class of dwellings of 

 which there are probably many hundreds. The ages of these 

 dwellings and the conditions under which they were built and 



Fig. 8. Echo Cave on the Eio San Juan. 



occupied are unknown. The climate favors the preservation of 

 objects, so that they may be of considerable antiquity ; and there 

 is no reason for supposing they were not inhabited down to a 

 comparatively recent period. The objects found within the cliff 

 and cave dwellings, some of which are represented in Dr. Mearns's 

 article, indicate a considerable degree of civilization. 



An account was published by Mr. Theodore Hayes Lewis, in 

 Appletons' Annual Cyclopsedia for 1889, of some curious drawings 

 that are found in caves at St. Paul, Winona, and Houston Counties, 

 Minn., La Crosse County, Wis., and Allamakee County, Iowa. 

 They include representations of the human form, fish, snakes, 

 animals, and conventional figures. 



Many accounts of travelers go to show that residence in caves 

 is not rare in modern times, and that it constitutes a feature 'of 

 life, though not an important one, in some of the most civilized 



