444 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



by heat, some cracked, and all impaired in luster. Mr. Moorehead took from two 

 hearths upward of 100,000 pearls. 



In an altar, or " hearth," of the Effigy mound were found a number of bears' teeth 

 and several quarts of pearls, many of which had several successive layers flaked off. 

 Some of these pearls measured two-thirds of an inch in diameter. In this remark- 

 able altar were found hundreds of obsidian knives and spears, of exquisite work 

 manship, measuring from a few inches up to 8 inches in length. With these were 

 several hundred earrings made of native copper coated with meteoric iron. 



From their manner of occurrence in connection with the skeletons, the archaeolo- 

 gist is led to see that the use of pearls, although so many are found, was confined to 

 a few individuals. 



A remarkable fact in this connection is that pearls have never been found in 

 isolated mounds, nor out of the great mound groups. The hill mounds, the villages 

 of the small streams, and the tumuli of northern Ohio have yielded none. They seem 

 to have been used by the more cultured tribes, and are an evidence of extensive trade 

 and barter. 



It is of interest to archaeologists to note further that they are not found in any 

 quantity outside of the Miami and Scioto valleys, and that they invariably were kept 

 in large and prosperous communities; that the pearls were deposited with the remains 

 of persons held in especial distinction ; while the enormous numbers found indicate 

 that the yield of Unio pearls must have been far greater in the remote past than it 

 has been at any time since the whites have occupied the country. 



From Taylor's mound, Oregon ia, Warren County, Ohio, there were four Unio 

 shells in which a hole two-thirds of an inch in diameter has been drilled, either for 

 the purpose of extracting a piece of the shell to make a bead from, or else to allow the 

 shell to be used as an ornament. From this same mound were shown decorated disks 

 made of Unio shells, and a long Unio from which the corner nearest the lip has been 

 either ground down or cut off, evidently to adapt it for use as a scraper or a tool of 

 some kind. 



In the Ayer collection from Alaska was a large cloak of buckskin decorated with 

 about one hundred pendants of abalone shell (Haliotis hamehaikana), the exterior of 

 the shells being almost a brick red, the interior showing a brilliant iridescence of green, 

 red, and yellow, the combined colors making a pleasing contrast with the dark-brown 

 buckskin. The pieces are pear-shaped or elongated, frequently with a square lower 

 end, occasionally having a notched edge, and varying in length from 1 to 4 inches. 



One of the most striking objects in this collection was an ornament made of wal- 

 rus bone, beautifully inlaid with green abalone shell. The shape is that of a capital 

 letter H, laid down horizontally, the sides being concave and curving gracefully. The 

 length is about 5 inches and the breadth 1£ inches at the middle and nearly 2 inches 

 at the ends. The whole is adorned with elaborate inlays of abalone, oval, semioval, 

 ring-shaped, etc., producing a delightful combination of color in contrast to the yel- 

 lowish-white bone. 



The decoration of various wooden dishes, bowls, boxes, and chests with pieces of 

 abalone shell, is striking. Many of these are remarkably beautiful ; and when it is 

 considered that they were used as household utensils, one can not but admit that these 

 savage tribes possess more natural artistic taste than nine-tenths of our Americau 

 people. They also used circular pendants, either plain or with serrated edges, and in 



