24 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



From Dr. Heinrich Fischer. — A Review of the II and III Parts 

 of Trans. Royal Ethnographical Museum of Dresden; con- 

 sisting of a work on objects of Jadite and Nephrite from 

 various quarters of the globe. By Dr. A. B. Meyer. 4to. 

 Pp. 9. 



On motion of Col. Seely a vote of thanks was passed to the 

 donors of books and pamphlets mentioned in the Curator's report. 



Mr. Cyrus Thomas then read a paper entitled " Cherokees 

 Probably Mound-Builders."* 



abstract. 



The speaker commenced by referring to some discoveries made 

 by Prof. Lucien Carr in 1876 in Lee County, Virginia, which, taken 

 together with the historical data, led him to the conclusion that 

 some, at least, of the mounds of this region were the works of the 

 Cherokees. The evidence in this case consisted of the remains of 

 a building of some kind found in a mound which must have cor- 

 responded very closely with the " Council House" observed by 

 Bartram on a mound at the old Cheroke town of Cowe. 



He next referred to some mounds recently opened by the assist- 

 ants of the Bureau of Ethnology in western North Carolina and 

 East Tennessee, the contents of which, together with the history of 

 the Cherokees, induced him to believe they were also built by them. 



Prof, Thomas then entered upon the discussion of the early his- 

 tory of this people, the purport of which was to show that they had 

 occupied this region at least as far back as 1540, the date of De 

 Soto's expedition. 



He then referred to the specimens found in the mounds alluded 

 to, which he contended indicated contact with Europeans, exhibit- 

 ing some of the specimens to the Society as evidence of the correct- 

 ness of his conclusion, maintaining that if the mounds were built 

 after the appearance of the Europeans they must be the works of the 

 Cherokees, as they were the only people known to have inhabitated 

 this particular section from the time of De Soto's expedition until 

 its settlement by the whites. 



As further proof of his position he referred to carved stone pipes, 

 engraved shells, and copper ornaments found in these mounds pre- 

 cisely like those described by early writers as made by and in use 

 among the people of this tribe ; also to numerous articles of aborigi- 



* Published in Magazine of American History. 1S84. XI, 396-407. 



