ABORIGINAL POTTERY. 581 



warp when twisted being about one-eighth of an inch, and the woof 

 from one-twelfth to one-tenth of an inch in diameter. It will be ob- 

 served that the twist of the warp is continuous, while that of the woof 

 terminates at, or is lost in, the warp. 



The finest specimen I have has ten threads of warp to the inch, 

 with a woof or filling of from thirty to thirty-four. Fig. 2 is a portion 

 of it, showing the texture, which, though exceedingly close in the 

 filling, is plainly impressed on the clay, even showing the twist of the 

 threads and the crimping of the cloth as bound round the vessel. 



The exception referred to is a square-mesh net. The squares are 

 one-fourth of an inch ; the threads in thickness about equal to No. 6 

 sewing-cotton ; and the knots at the corners of the meshes are very 

 distinctly marked. 



Fig, 3. represents the first piece that I found giving any idea of 

 the union of the bandage, which in this case appears to have been by 

 the intervention of a stick to which the threads were fastened. 



Fig. 4 is a piece of the rim of a vessel where the bandage has been 

 united by twisting. 



Fig. 5 is a similar piece, showing where two pieces of cloth of dif- 

 ferent texture have been united, and the obliquity of the threads to 

 the rim caused by the hemispherical form of the vessel. 



Fig. 6 shows varieties in the pattern of the cloth. 



On none of the specimens do I find impressions of cloth woven as 

 delineated by Mr. Foster (p. 225), as cloth from the mounds of Butler 

 and Jackson Counties, Ohio. 



Most of the fragments of the large vessels are of a leaden-clay 

 color, and, where reddened by heat, it is more on the inside than on 

 the outside. Some specimens that 1 found in the woods showed signs 

 of the action of fire on the portions projecting above the ground, from 

 the frequent burning of the woods. Where reddened by heat, most 

 of the markings have been thrown off". 



This and other considerations lead me to doubt a burning or bak- 

 ing process ever having been applied to them, and I do not think it 

 would have been possible in open fires. The unequal heat would have 

 caused unequal expansion and contraction, and consequent cracking. 



It is evident that they are composed of a cement of siliceous clay 

 and slightly-calcined shells. None of the pieces will stand a high 

 heat and afterward moisture. I have heated to redness large pieces, 

 that, on fracturing, I found to contain portions of coarsely-pounded 

 shells (flakes as large as one-fourth of an inch frequently occurring). 

 On cooling, they were about the color of common salmon-brick ; when 

 moistened, they at once fall to pieces by the slacking of the shell-lime; 

 and when exposed to the air they gradually waste away, the lime 

 only slacking and causing disintegration as it absorbs moisture from 

 the air. 



