ETHNOLOGY, 407 



road, mining' operations or some otlicr cause wbicli I conld not ascertain, there 

 has accumulated on the formerly clean stalagmitic floor of the cave a thickness 

 of some 20 feet of smface earth that completely conceals the l)ottom, and which 

 could not he removed without considerable expense. This cave is about 27 feet 

 deep at the mouth, and 40 to 50 feet at the end, and perhaps 30 feet in diameter. 



It is the general opinion of those who have noticed this cave and saw it years 

 ag'O, that it was a burying place of the present Indians. Dr. Jones said he found 

 remains of bows and arrows and charcoal with the skulls he obtained, and which 

 were destroyed at the time the village of Murphys was burned. All the people 

 spoke of the skulls as lying on the surface, and not as buried in the stalagmite. 

 I'he skulls should be examined by some craniologist, and then if the results 

 make it worth while to have excavations made in the cave to see if anything' 

 further can be discovered underneath the soil, $100 would pay the expenses, I 

 presume. In the mean time everything will remain as it is. There can be no 

 fm'ther harm done or material carried away. 



I visited several other caves in this region, \nth negative results as far as bones 

 were concerned. 



[These skulls were, with a large number of others belonging to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, examined by Prof. Jeffries Wyman, who discovered no pecu- 

 liarities by which they could be distinguished from other crania of California. 

 A complete series of measurements conld not be made of their several dimensions 

 without removing the stalagmite \Yhich encrusted nearly the whole surface of 

 each. — J. H.J 



ETHXOLOGICAl DEPARTMENT OF TEE FRENCn EXPOSITION, 180^. 



[Translated for the Smithsonian Institution from the Revue des Cons Scientifiqucs dc la France 



et dc I' 6tranger.^ 



M. G. de Mortillet is about to publish an octavo volume, having for its 

 title ^' Pre-historic Rambles at the Universal Exposition," comprising a descrip- 

 tion of that part of the collections which illustrate our knowledge of the works 

 of industry, as elaborated by our first ancestors, who were cotemporary with the 

 great fossil animals ; for scientific research has penetrated into that era, and is 

 now seeking to restore to us their customs, mode of living, and, in fine, the first 

 rudiments of civilization. Numerous figures are given representing the most 

 curious objects to be found in this section of the Universal Exposition ; indeed, 

 the richest and most instructive ever assembled in one place. "We borrow the 

 following passage from this interesting work, exhibiting the most recent disco- 

 veries in pre-historic anthropology, and upon a subject which holds a place in 

 the history of mankind analogous to that of geology to the history of the earth. 



ART IN THE CAVES. 



(First French corridor of the history of labor — first glass case from the centre.) 

 This case contains an exhibition of the state of art at the period of the rein- 

 deer, or the second cave epoch. There are 51 exceedingly curious pieces — a 

 wonderful collection, which has been estimated at a million francs by an ama- 

 teur, who made an offer of that siun if the whole should be transferred to him. 

 Undoubtedly they are the most original woi'ks in the Exposition of 1SG7. No- 

 thing similar has ever before been exhibited. Of very recent discovery, and only 

 in part as yet seen by the public, they have never been brought together before 



