664 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



which was found by a hiborer in the meadow directly west of my resi- 

 dence. I have not known of any similar relic found in this region. 



I have several times visited the locality where was found that re- 

 markable ancient implement of wood, which I described in the Smith- 

 sonian Eeport for 1876, p. 445. It lies so low that it is usually covered 

 by the water of the river. I had a good view of it last September, but 

 made no discoveries, and found nothing to modify the inferences set forth 

 in the report. Undoubtedly the place was an ancient swamp, lower than 

 the present average water level of Connecticut Eiver. The soil was very 

 wet with springs, some of them issuing from holes an inch in diameter. 

 In seasons of low water many springs appear along the banks, most of 

 which are ephemeral. The banks being previously filled with water, 

 partly from the river and partly from the accumulations of rain, drain 

 off in a low time. 



A great deal of fine quicksand was issuing from the springs above 

 mentioned, and I found more of this minute sand in the clay tbau I de- 

 tected when it was in a frozen state. . The natural color of the bed 

 where un tinged by vegetable material is very blue — quite different from 

 the browns of the loam and sand now deposited by the river. The 

 grooved log described in the report was unchanged. It inclines down- 

 ward, as it enters the bank near the low- water line, and lies verj- firmly 

 in place. Prying upon it with a lever ten or twelve feet long did not 

 change its set in the least. I was deterred from attempting to dig it 

 out by the certainty that the hole would immediately fill with water. 



I visited the place again on the 18th of this month. The water was 

 low, and appearances were not much changed. I traced the blue clay 

 formation thirty or forty rods farther north than I had previously dis- 

 covered it, and found it there containing much less vegetable material. 

 Walking about twenty rods south of where I found the mallet, and near 

 the water's edge, on a gently sloping beach of loamy sand, I noticed 

 a portion of a buried stone, about two inches in length and half an inch 

 in width. The pecked and rubbed surface looked familiar, and on being 

 taken out it proved to be a pestle of gneiss 11^ inches long and 2 inches 

 in diameter. It is round and smooth, well made, and perfect, with the 

 exception of a small piece broken from the handle end. 



SHELL HEAPS IN BAENSTABLE COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS. 



By Daniel Wing, of South Yarmouth, Mass. 



On both banks of Bass Eiver, which separate the towns of Yarmouth 

 and Dennis, in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, are ancient shell 

 heaps and stone hearths. They are particularly numerous in the vicinity 

 of the Old Colony Eailroad bridge and below the village of George- 

 town ; in both cases upon the Yarmouth side of the river. They are 



