DEPOSIT OF AGRICULTURAL FLINT IMPLEMENTS. 



403 



from 15 to 30 pounds cacli, and many IVagmcuts of flint. The soil in tlic ininie- 

 diate neighborhood is composed of black loam, overlying a stratum of a sandy 

 character, and the deposit ^vllicll occniTcd in the latter, was covered with from 18 

 to 2i inches of the black earth, l)earing a luxuriant turf on its surface. Accord- 

 ing to the contractor's statement, tlieiiint tools, the shells, and the boulders were 

 dq)osited in three separate holes dug out in the sand, but not more than a f(Jot 

 apart from each other, and jdaced like the corners of a triangle. To use his lan- 

 guage, the implements formed a ''nest" by themselves, and so did the shells, 

 and'likcwise the boulders. The flint tools, however, instead of being packed 

 close together, like the shells and the boulders, were arranged witli some regu- 

 laritv, overlappinc: each other or standing edgewise, and covering a circular space. 

 The' whole deposit did not extend more than seven or eight feet on either side. 

 The contractor neijlected to count the implements, but he thinks there were from 

 70 to 75 in all; ^some 50 hoes and about 20 shovels. No other stone articles, 

 such as an-ow and spear-heads, tomahawks, &c., had been deposited with the 



agricultural implements. The latter 



were soon taken away by persons from 

 the place, attracted l)y the novelty oi 

 the occurrence, and it is to be regret- 

 ted that many, if not most of tliem, 

 have fallen into the hands of individu- 

 als who are unable to ap]>reciato their 

 value. But this is usually the case 

 when discoveries of similar character 

 are made. L>r. I'atrick examined 

 upwards of 20 of the flint implements, 

 and found that none of them had been 

 used, as they had not received the 

 slic-htest polish on the cutting edge. 

 The place of discovery lies about a 

 mile and a half, or still further, fromthe 

 ]\Iississippi, on elevated ground, and 

 above orilinary high-water mark ; but 

 formerly, before tlie bed of the ri\er 

 was nan-owed by the dike connect- 

 ing the Illinois shore with Bloody 

 Island, the distance cannot have l)een 

 more than half a mile. The spot is 

 situated nearly midway between two 

 mounds, half a mile apart from each 

 other. One of them was formerly 

 used as a graveyard by the French of 

 the neighborhood, and the other serves 

 as the substructure for a dwelling-hnuse. The accompanyingplan (furnished by 

 my corresj ((indent) gives a view of the locality. 



'Several of the agricultural implements found at East St. Louis are now in my 

 possession. Their material is a yellowish-brown variety of the flint to which I 

 already refeired. In shape they corresjiond with the tools of the same class 

 previously descril)ed by me; most of the shovels, however, instead of having the 

 end opposite the cutting jiart worked into a rounded edge, (like Fig. 1,) tenni- 

 natc in a more or less acute angle. The edges of all are chipp(,'d with the 

 utmost regularity, and exhil)it not the slightest wear, which jiroves that the 

 implements were in a perfectly new condition when buried in the ground. 



The fossil shells of marine'origin are all small univalves, ami belong almost 

 entirely to the geniis mclrinqms. Of nearly oOO specimens sent to me by Dr. 

 Patrick, 19 only represent other genera, namely, cokimbeUa, marcjlncUa. conus, 



