1867.] 159 Wyman. 



amined ; althougli they have not generally been attributed to the abor- 

 igines, there is now abundant evidence that Indians lived upon them 

 from their commencement up to the time of their completion ; pottery, 

 bones of edible animals, such as deer, wild turkeys, ducks, soft-shelled 

 turtles and cat-fish, were scattered through them. Beds of char- 

 coal were found at various depths, resting on calcined shells, and 

 near them were fragments of burnt bone. Ornaments and flint Imple- 

 ments were very rare, but at Horse Landing, a few miles above Pa- 

 la>tka, a worked flint was discovered by Mr. G. A. Peabody, Dr. Wy- 

 man's companion, in the sand under a shell mound eight feet high. 

 The shells entering Into the formation of the mounds, are principally 

 of the genera Ampullaria and Paludina with some Unionidce. 



The existence on some of these mounds of live oaks between 

 five and six feet In diameter and estimated to be from three to four 

 hundred years old, the roots of which are confined to the most super- 

 ficial portions, is an indication that no material change has taken 

 place In them since the coming of the white man. The imbedded 

 bones have lost nearly all their organic matter, and a few of the 

 mounds had a somewhat stratified structure, the result of the succes- 

 sive deposits of layers of sand alternating with those of shells. 

 These deposits could have been formed only when the shells on which 

 they rested were superficial, and appeared to be such as came from 

 an overflow of the river. At the present time, however, the river is 

 not known to reach such an elevation above its ordinary level as 

 would be required to make similar deposits of sand. If they are to 

 be ascribed to such an origin, they must date back to a period when 

 the physical constitution of Florida was difierent to that now exist- 

 ing. No instruments of any kind Avere discovered in the difierent ex- 

 cavations in the mounds, which could be attributed to the white man. 



There was a marked variety in the fragments of pottery belonging 

 to different localities. Specimens from the upper portion of the river 

 were slightly ornamented by square and regular Indentations ; those 

 from the neighborhood of Lake Munroe were marked by complicated 

 figures mostly consisting of combinations of straight lines, traced on 

 the clay with a j^olnted Instrument, Avhile near the mouth of the river, 

 the figures were all stamped and still more elaborate. 



Dr. C. E. Ware and Mr. Thomas Gaffield were chosen 

 a Committee to andit the accounts of the Treasurer. 



Messrs. R. C. Greenleaf, C. J. Sprague and Dr. Samuel 

 Kneeland, were elected a Committee to nominate officers for 

 the ensuing year. 



Ml-. Edward Doubleday Harris of Cambridge, Mr. Levi L. 



