206 PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



an animal with a fish in its mouth. Squier and Davis call this animal an otter;* 

 Mr. Stevens, however, supposes it to be the lamantin, manatee, or sea-cow [Tri- 

 checlms manatus, Lin.), a manimal not met in the higher latitudes of North 

 America, but only on the coast of Florida.f The latter is a herbivorous animal, 

 and hence the artist probably would not have carved its likeness with a prey 

 befitting a carnivore. The first suggestion, therefore, may be the correct one.J 

 This specimen consists of a material analogous to that composing the heron-pipe, 

 and both are now in the Blackmore Museum, at Salisbmy, England. 



Fig. 349. — Clay pipe iu the shape of a fish (?3. Chattaaooga. 



The original of Fig. 349 is a pipe of burned clay, found at a considerable 

 depth below the surface, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and belonging to Dr. J. 

 B. Nicklin, of that place. It is moulded in the form of what appears to be a 

 fish with widely-opened mouth, feebly-expressed fins, and unforked tail. The 

 eyes are indicated by roundish incisions, and the body is marked on both sides 

 with two rows of rudely-engraved lines, meeting in a median line. The form of 

 the fish appears to be altogether conventional, as none of the experts in ichthy- 

 ology whom 1 consulted was able to determine its character.§ 



Imitations in Stone and Shell. — Prehistoric carvings in stone or other ma- 

 terial, exhibiting the forms of fishes and aquatic mammals, it appears, have not 

 frequently been discovered in this country. Such as have fallen under my 

 notice, directly or indirectly, are here described. 



Fig. 350 represents a rude imitation of a fish, preserved in the National 

 Museum. It consists of a rough, flat piece of greenish-gray slate, not quite half 

 an inch in thickness, and ground (even i^olished) around the edge ; the indenta- 



* Squier and Davis : Ancient Monuments ; p. 2.57. 



t Stevens: Flint Chips; p. 429. 



J There are among the pipes of "Mound City " several thought to be imitations of the lamantin. 



§ The pipe has even been thought to represent the head of a snake. 



