76 



within that period twice required renewal, having been fairly 

 "riddled" by the Teredo. We could find no reason to doubt 

 that the protection was entirely due to the preparation recom- 

 mended by Mr. Swan. 



It is simply the application of a mixture of Asphaltum (one 

 hundred parts,) sulphur (forty parts,) and arsenic (twenty parts,) 

 used as a paint ; the asphaltum being melted, the other materials 

 stirred in, and the whole applied hot, with a common brush ; the 

 wood must of course be dry. 



If this proves to be as effectual as the trial here seems to pro- 

 mise, the value of the discovery can scarcely be overrated^ 

 Cannot the Society draw to it the attention of those interested, 

 and thus secure for it a thorough testing ? 



Mr. Swan's first experiments were made at Charlestown, Mass., 

 about ten years since, and he claims that they were equally suc- 

 cessful there, but he made no efforts then to publish his results. 



Dr. Kneeland exhibited to the Society three skulls of 

 American Indians, presented inl the name of Dr. Josiah 

 C. Nott, of Mobile, a Corresponding Member, viz. : the 

 skulls of an Osage Chief from Arkansas, a Creek Chief 

 from Georgia, and a Choctaw youth from the Alabama 

 River, a few miles above Mobile. 



Besides their value as authentic specimens of the above tribes, 

 these crania are interesting as coming from three points far dis- 

 tant from each other, and yet showing the same characteristic 

 Indian conformation ; adding to the proofs, if any are necessary, 

 of Dr. Morton's views, that the American nations form one great 

 family, having the same physical conformation, and differing 

 from all the other great human families. 



The Osage skull is quite typical of the Indian conformation ; 

 having a low, receding forehead, prominent vertex, and flattened 

 occiput : a short antero-posterior diameter, a wide interparietal 

 diameter, and a narrow frontal diameter — large quadrangular 

 orbits ; prominent nasal bones (differing in this respect from the 

 Mongolian skull) ; high and broad cheek bones ; large nasal 

 opening ; strong upper jaw, and deep palatine fossa caused by its 



