THE MUSEUM. 



157 



seen are as follows: Greatest outside 

 diameter i\ inches; diameter of the 

 perforation at the finished end, 5 inch; 

 at the fracture, S inch. The bore of 

 the tube is thus slightly conical, and 

 the finders say that for some little dis- 

 tance at the end destroyed the cavity 

 was filled with a black powder. Beau- 

 champ, in a recent bulletin published 

 by the state, speaks of similar stone 

 ti;S"s from Otisco Lake, tilled or found 

 in immediate contact with red paint. 

 The successful perforation of these 

 tubes must have been a most laborious 

 and difficult task. A flint drill affixed 

 to a slender shaft, a stick, with sand 

 and water, and in some cases a tubu- 

 lar drill cutting loose a core, were used 

 by the Indians. That this latter meth- 

 od of drilling was used we have ample 

 proof in certain objects of stone hav- 

 ing a perforation partly completed, 

 showing a core still adhering to the 

 bottom of the perforation. The ma- 

 terial of the tubes was generally a soft 

 striped slate, such as was often used 

 for perforated tablets and other ob- 

 jects 



The use of these tubes is problem- 

 atical, but they are by some thought 

 to have been used by the medicine 

 men in incantations. Among the On- 

 ondagas long tubular bone or cane 

 whistles were employed in medicine 

 making, even within a few years. Pos- 

 sibly in this find we have the kit or a 

 portion of the kit, of an ancient Mo- 

 hawk medicine man. The find prob- 

 ably represents a burial or all that time 

 has left of such. The soil of the site 

 is a soft sand, which constitutes a 

 knoll or ridge, in fact just such a sit- 

 uation as was generally chosen by the 

 Mohawks for burial purposes. 



Stone tubes of this nature, while not 

 so abundant, have been found in por- 

 tions of this state. None have been 

 recorded from this immediate vicinity, 

 save one which was found in the con- 

 tents of a grave midway between Hoff- 

 mans and Schenectady. This latter 

 carved from slate, was large and thin 

 in this respect resembling the modern 



napkin ring, although longer, and was 

 very neatly engraved over its outside 

 diameter. The collection of A. E. 

 Douglas of New York contains 73 

 stone tubes, none of which are from 

 New Yoik state. P. M. V^ E. 



The White Sheep of Alaska- 



This rare wild white sheep is found 

 nowhere in the world but Alaska, and 

 few specimens for mounting whole 

 have evtr been obtained. This spec- 

 ies, named Otis dalli by Professor 

 Dall, differs from its cousin, the Rocky 

 mountain big horn {Ovis vwntana), 

 in color, O. niontana being a dull 

 brown in midsummer, changing to a 

 grayish ilrab in winter, with a light 

 ashy colored patch over the rump all 

 the year, while the 0. dalli is snow 

 white at all seasons; in fact, there is 

 not a colored hair on any part of his 

 body. He is not quite so stockily 

 built as our "big horn," yet more trim 

 and shapely. Two of my specimens 

 stood forty-two inches at the shoulder. 

 His limbs are not quite so heavy, and 

 his horns will not average as large at 

 the base, although quite as long. The 

 horns of my largest specimen of 1897 

 measured 41} inches in length and 14^ 

 inches in circumference at the base. 



The flesh is the most delicious of all 

 wild game. In the summer this sheep 

 lives chiefly on the rich succulent 

 growth of the Aspleninm scptentrio- 

 nalf, which grows in the crevices of 

 the rock on the sunny slopes of this 

 rugged range. This beautiful animal 

 must endure great hardships to survive 

 the winters of this icy north. — Dall De 

 Weese, in Outing, for July. 



15 Varieties Petrified Wood 



some very rare, including Agatized Wood, Pet- 

 rified Oak, Manzenata, etc. Pieces weigh one 

 ounce each, by mail postpaid, only 50c.; larger 

 pieces $i.oo. JOHN GARDELLA, JR., New- 

 town, California. 



