30 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



in some localities. This ware is covered with a glaze consisting essentially of silicate of 

 lead. From carelessness in manufacture, the composition is by no means uniform. 



1 have instituted a series of experiments to determine, if possible, whether any dan- 

 ger could result from the use of these vessels in cooking. 



I. About a pint of pure water was boiled in a clean, old earthenware vessel for H 

 hours, and no trace of lead was found in the water. 



II. An equal quantity of vinegar (containing '.Y,i per cent, of acetic acid) was boiled 

 for some time in the same vessel, and from this solution .77 grains of oxide of lead, 

 equivalent to 1.12 grains of sugar of lead, was obtained. 



III. A 20-per-oent. sugar solution was heated for three hours in an old earthen ves- 

 sel, and upon testing gave no lead. 



IV. Apple sauce was heated for about twenty-four hours in an old vessel. This 

 showed but a slight trace of lead. 



V. Milk was allowed to stand for several days in an old vessel, and afterwards heated. 

 Although thoroughly soured, it gave no evidence of containing lead. 



VI. Experiments made with boiling water in a new vessel gave no lead. 



VII. An experiment made with vinegar, heated for several hours in a new vessel, 

 showed the presence of .25 grain of PbO, equal to .37 grain of sugar of lead. 



VIII. A test made upon apple sauce heated in a new vessel gave no indication of lead. 



IX. Lard was heated for twenty-four hours in a new vessel, and in this only the 

 slightest trace of lead was to be detected. 



From the above experiments I conclude that acid solutions should neither be heated 

 nor allowed to stand in these vessels. When the vessel is old and the glazing becomes 

 cracked, there is greater danger of lead poisoning consequent upon its use than in the 

 case of a new vessel. It is always safer to thoroughly cleanse the new vessel before 

 using, by washing with vinegar and water. 



A class of ware known as granite ware, or marbleized ware, has come into the market 

 within a few years. This glaze, which is usually on sheet iron, generally consists of an 

 insoluble silicate of a non-poisonous metal. Dr. Zinrek, of Berlin, has however analyzed 

 the enamel of a stew-pan, which contained so much lead that 2\ grains of oxide of lead 

 was found in a liter of vinegar which had been boiled in it for an hour. The author has 

 found one specimen of glaze that contained a notable per cent, of zinc. Glazes of this 

 class can however be made of such material that they may be used with perfect impunity. 

 The whole subject is one deserving careful and unprejudiced consideration. 



ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES. 



BY GEO. S. CHASE, TOPEKA. 



During the summer of 1880, the writer, while traveling through the mountain region 

 north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, stopped over night at the village of Taos, near the 

 ancient pueblo of Taos, at the base of the western slope of the Sangre de Christo range. 

 Here he met an old schoolmate, who had been trading at the place for several years. 

 The day before our arrival, a Pueblo Indian had stolen from the priest at the pueblo 

 what he declared to be a greatly-revered god of the village, and offered it in trade for 

 that greatest of evil tempters, the white man's firewater. Prompted by curiosity, my 

 friend supplied the commodity demanded in exchange, and took possession of the god. 

 Seeing that the article awakened my interest, he at once presented the deity to me, and 

 upon the following morning I departed with it in my possession. 



Some time later I passed through Taos again, on my return trip, and my friend in- 



