1883. 15 Traits. N. V. Ac. Set. 



The President referred to a sermon, recently delivered in this 

 city, in which these eruptions were cited as overturning modern 

 geological theories, and he showed its mistake. 



Dr. B. N. Martin exhibited a silver casting, of archaological 

 interest, which was discovered by Messrs. Lyman and Squiek, in 

 Peru, many years ago, and has recently been brought to this city. 

 Several castings were found in one village, mostly domestic in 

 subject, but the one exhibited presented possibly a religious form, 

 and was so treated by the natives in whose possession it was 

 found. On a thin, round tablet, twelve centimetres in diameter, 

 was a figure of an Indian, with one knee bent, and a metal axe 

 lying at his foot, facing a tree with a serpent at the base ; at his 

 left was a pole, supported upon two forked props, beneath which 

 was bound a human figure, face downward, over a square pile of 

 fagots. The execution implied great skill in the prehistoric races 

 of America. 



The Secretary called attention to the peculiarity of the fact of 

 the insertion of the handle of the axe in the socket. 



The President referred to the remarkable skill in metal working 

 of the South American and Central American races, as shown in 

 the specimens found at Chiriqui and elsewhere ; but stated that 

 he had never seen any one equal to that on exhibition. Other 

 instances of their skill had been shown by the casts of figures in 

 silver from Peru, which had been exhibited by Dr. Otis several 

 years ago, and the casts in an alloy of gold, copper, and silver, 

 which had been " pickled " in some solution, leaving only the 

 gold at the surface, and afterward poHshed. He described an axe 

 of copper, from Chili, now in his own possession, which was ex- 

 ceedingly well wrought — better than any other he had seen. This 

 was very ancient, and belonged to a civilization anterior to 

 that of the present time. It had been bound to a handle with 

 thongs of some kind, and he had never seen any American imple- 

 ment, of prehistoric age, which had been pierced for the reception 

 of a handle. 



Dr. A. R. Ledoux then spoke on the subject of 



THE RELATIVE SOIL-EXHAUSTION BY THE SUGAR-CANE CROP. 



This communication presented an exceedingly interesting account 

 of the systematic mode of cultivation of a very large sugar plantation 



