411 



African Repository. December, 1860. — From A. Col. Society. 

 Desc. of Bond's Isodynamic Escapement. Boston. 1860. pp. 4. 

 Lunar tidal Wave in Lake Michigan. J. D. Graham. 1860. pp. 7. 



Dr. Bache read a circular letter of the relatives of M. 

 Steen Anderson de Bille, a member of the Society, and for- 

 merly Charge d'Affaires of Denmark, near the United States 

 government, announcing his decease, at Bruxelles, November 

 28, 1860, at the age of 79. Dr. Bache and Dr. Hays de- 

 scribed the virtues and attainments of the deceased ; and, on 

 motion of Dr. Leidj, Dr. Bache was appointed to prepare 

 an obituary notice. 



Mr. Franklin Peale exhibited a numerous collection of 

 Indian arrow-heads, flint-knives, and pottery, with the fol- 

 lowing remarks : 



The members of the Society are aware, from the proceedings of 

 the various learned societies, which have been laid before them, and 

 particularly from the establishment of an institution with express 

 reference to the subject, which was placed upon the list of our cor- 

 respondents at the last meeting, that much attention is now given to 

 the works of Man, found with the remains of extinct animals, in 

 Diluvial deposits and in Bone caves. 



It is not my intention to enter into an investigation of this branch 

 of research, as our resources are much too meagre at this time ; but 

 I solicit the indulgence of the Society, in behalf of a few remarks 

 upon a department of Ethnology that, I cannot help observing, has 

 been too much neglected in this country. 



The learned Conservator of the Museum of Copenhagen, so rich 

 in Scandinavian Antiquities, several English Philosophers, includ- 

 ing Messrs. Lyell and Prestwick, have recognized the term " Stone 

 Period of the Human Eace,'' as that condition in which the art of 

 working metal was unknown; followed by the ^^ Bronze Period," 

 that in which rude art fashioned the alloys of copper into weapons 

 of war and utility ; and ending with the '' Iron Period,'^ the last, 

 that in which the working of iron, and its conversion into steel, 

 brings us to the summit of our career in Arts, Sciences, and their 

 congeners, Literature and the Fine Arts. 



Retracing this order, it is not necessary to pause upon the latter 

 period, but proceed at once to state, that in the territory of the 

 United States the Bronze Period may be said to have scarcely had 



