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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



At the present salt-works, about five miles higher up the Saline 

 River, on its south fork, near Equality, is the " Half-Moon Lick," 

 where the earth has been licked away to a depth varying from 

 twelve to sixteen feet, in the shape of a horseshoe, about 200 yards 

 from point to point of the heels, and to the toe, or back of the curve, 

 250 yards. In this lick are still to be seen deeply-trodden buf- 

 falo-roads. On one bank is a slightly-raised ridge, in which were 

 found imbedded a number of earthen vessels in a row. Mr. B. Tem- 

 ple, one of the proprietors of the salt-works, described them to me as 

 between four and five feet diameter and sixteen to eighteen inches 

 deep. After uncovering, they Avere not removed, but suffered to go 

 to decay. The bones of the mastodon have been found here.' 



Fig. 4. 



On many of the fragments of the large pans in my collection the 

 impressions of the cloth are perfect delineations of the fabrics used. 

 Though differing greatly in pattern and in fineness of texture, they 

 are all, with one single exception, made < woven in the same manner 

 that is, by twisting two threads of warp around the single thread 

 of the woof, precisely as the wire faces of laid moulds for forming 

 paper are now made. The coarsest fabric that I find the impression 

 of has warps about one and a half inch apart, with about five threads 

 of woof to the inch. This piece is shown full size in Fig. 1 ; the double 



^ After writing the above description of the " Half-Moon Lick," I referred to Prof. E. 

 T. Cox's report of it in the " Geological Surrey of Gallatin County," as published in the 

 sixth volume of A. H. Worthcn's "Report" of Illinois, and find that he has probably 

 trusted to cye-mcasuremetit, and fireatly understated the extent of this remarkable lick. 



I wrote to Mr. B. Temple, who confirmed what I had written, and furnished the 

 actual measures, as given above. 



