THE MUSEUM. 



127 



on the eastern margin of the vlaie. 

 This was an isolated cacJic numbering; 

 about one hundred large leaf-shaped im- 

 plements. Such "finds" of a varying 

 number of implements, all in the 

 particulBr deposit usually being of 

 one pattern, are occasionally re- 

 ported from this and the adjoin- 

 ing states, but are not common, 

 and when such a discovery is made the 

 objects are usually scattered at once to 

 the four corners of the earth. Thanks 

 to the foresight of the finder, this nest 

 of flints was zealously kept together 

 in its entirety, and was last year de- 

 posited en masse in the National Mu- 

 seum at Washington. The manner of 

 their discovery was curious, Mr. Mc- 

 William in passing hastily over a field 

 just under the plow for the first time 

 in many years, noticed or thought that 

 he caught a glimpse of an object of 

 worked flint lying in the freshly up- 

 turned sod, but not being sure he pass- 

 ed on. However them atter troubled 

 him, as it would any true-born archte- 

 ologfst.and after going a short distance 

 he fortunately retraced his steps, and 

 on Hearing the debatable ground he was 

 rewarded with the sight of a few finely 

 chipped leaf-shaped implements lying 

 scattered in the loose soil. Subse- 

 quently thorough search being made, the 

 entire number recorded was recovered. 



Dr. Thomas Wilson in speaking of 

 these occasional finds of leaf-shaped 

 implements {fcnillc dc laitriei') says; — 



"They have always been considered 

 as Indian, and the possibility of their 

 belonging to the paleolithic period has 

 never been contemplated. It would 

 become intensely interesting if, now 

 that the attention of the public is di- 

 rected to these implements, if they 

 should be found so associated with 

 ©ther paleolithic implements, or with 



the fauna, or under circumstances 

 which would point to their belonging 

 also to the paleolithic period." 



A study of Prehistoric Anthropology, 

 page 641. And again in the same 

 work, while speaking of the beautifully 

 chipped and fluted implements of the 

 Solutrian epoch, (page 614). 



— "It is remarkable that these leaf- 

 shaped implements should be found in 

 France in nests or en eacke, and that 

 great numbers of similar instruments 

 should be found in the United States 

 likewise frequently in nests." 



To the working botanist and geolo- 

 gist, the peat-filled lake basins of 

 northern New York offer a tempting 

 field for study, and in some of them 

 as at the Consalus vlaie, the archae- 

 ologist will have his hands full in solv- 

 ing the problems that will confront 

 him. 



If during the past ages we had had in 

 this land as dense a population, as 

 did Europe during the epochs of stone 

 and bronze, we might well expect to 

 recover from our lacustrine swamps 

 many ancient canoes with their asso- 

 ciated relics. As it is, doubtless a few 

 such may e.xist, to be possibly disclos- 

 ed by drainage works of the future. 

 Doubtless much of interest could be 

 gathered from a study of the ancient 

 fauna obtained from these deposits. 

 From a slight excavation made near 

 the margin of the Consalus vlaie dur- 

 ing the summer of 1895 by Mr. Robert 

 Hartley and Mr. McWilliam, the fol- 

 lowing species of fresh-water shells 

 were obtained, as determined at the 

 National Museum. 



Planorbis campanulatus Say; 



Planorbis bicarinatus Say; 



Pianorbis exactus Say.'; 



Planorbis parvus Say.'; 



Physa ancillaria; 



