RELICS FROM THE MOUNDS AND STONE GRA\^ES. 135 



rather broader than thick, though circular. The ends are abruptly conoidal. It 

 is very smooth and heavy, and neatly polished. On part of one side, it seems to 

 have received from paint a reddish hue, and the other parts of it seem to have 

 been variegated with some coloring now dark, but probably brown formerly. It 

 may have been used as a pestle, but it greatly resembles a phallus. 



A phallus or priapus was found in or near Chillicothe, not long since, and was 

 presented to Mr. McCullough, who deposited it in the museum of the Philosophi- 

 cal Society. 



Dr. Gerard Troost, in his " Account of Some Ancient Remains in Tennessee," has 

 descrigbed an idol which was inclosed in a large shell (Cast's flammea, Linn), the 

 interior whorls and columella of which had been removed, so that nothing but the 

 external shell remained, which was opened in front sufficiently to permit the 

 intrusion of the image. 



This shell belongs to the tropics. The utensils which Dr. Troost found were 

 all made of difl'erent kinds of stone, most of which may be found amongst the 

 primitive rocks in North Carolina or Missouri, and some even in Tennessee ; 

 one, however, an ohskllau, must have been brought from Mexico or South 

 America. This volcanic substance is found in several parts of the Andes, particu- 

 larly in Quito, Popayan, at the volcanoes of Purace and Sotora, in the mountains 

 of Les Nakajas, and in Mexico. These facts seem to place it beyond doubt that 

 the Aborigines of Tennessee came from southern regions. 



The observations of Dr. Troost confirmed those of Haywood, that they were 

 idolaters and probably worshipped the phallus, in common with the ancient 

 Egyptians, Phenicians, and Greeks. 



All the images obtained by Dr. Troost during his extended geological explora- 

 tions were similar to the stone images which I have described. Figs. 67, 68, 69, 

 TO, 71 (A). They all represented naked figures in the kneeling position, and 

 sitting on their heels. Some of them had their hands about their abdomen, others 

 had them on their knees. Two of these sandstone images found in Smith County, 

 representing a male and a female, were sixteen inches in height. The male seemed 

 to be a rude imitation of an ancient priapus, with a large memhnwi generadonis 

 virile in erectione. 



This is not the only instance that this pars genitalis has been found in Tennessee. 

 Dr. Ramsay, who has a fine collection of these antiquities, has two simulacra of 

 this member , the one is carved out of stone similar to that of Dr. Troost's images, 

 and is of rude onstruction ; but he has one whicli is made of a kind of amphibolic 

 rock, about twelve inches in length, and perfectly resembling the natural object. 

 The phallus made of sandstone is about sixteen inches in length. The one 

 formed of amphibolic rock must have taken a long time in the making, the rock 

 being very hard and tough, and even steel makes no impression on it. It must 

 have been ground down with a substance of the hardness of emery ; nevertheless, 

 it is perfectly smooth, having the fat or greasy lustre characteristic of these rocks. 

 It is not probable that the aborigines would have spent so long a time on an 

 object, merely to satisfy some voluptuous propensities or whims; they must have 

 served some more serious purposes, and it is very probable that they held them in 



