HOLMES] SPIDER GORGETS. 287 



three iuclies in diameter, tluat had, appareutly, been cut from a Itusy- 

 con. Mr. Crosswell says that "the convex face was entirely plain, but 

 the concave side bears the figure of a tarantula, or large spider, very 

 skillfully engraved, the body being formed by a circle inclosing a cross, 

 showing beyond doubt its satjred and symbolic character. This orna- 

 ment, when found, lay on the breast-bone of a skeleton, with the concave 

 or ornamented side uppermost. Two holes in the upj^cr part were evi- 

 dently intended for the thong or string by which it had been suspended 

 from the neck. A circumstance that renders this relic still more inter- 

 esting is the fact that two other shell ornaments, bearing precisely simi- 

 lar devices, have recently been found in Illinois within seven miles of 

 this city, thus proving that the figures were not a mere fanciful inven- 

 tion, but had some symbolic meaning."' 



The disk thus briefly described by Mr. Crosswell is so much like the 

 example shown in Fig. 3 that I shall not desciibe it further, but shall 

 refer to its peculiarities in the descriptions of others that follow. 



The handsome gorget illustrated in Fig. 3 was obtained from a mound 

 in Saint Clair County, Illinois, seven miles from the city of Saint Louis. 

 It was found upon the breast of a skeleton, and was very much discol- 

 ored and quite fragile from decay, but no part of the design, which is 

 engraved upon the concave side, has been obliterated. Kear the margin 

 and parallel with it three lines have been engraved. The spider is drawn 

 with considerable fidelity to nature and covers nearly the entire disk, 

 the legs, mandibles, and abdomen reaching to the outer marginal line. 

 As in the specimen described above, the thorax is i)laced in the 

 center of the disk, and is represented by a circle; within this a cross 

 has been engraved, the ends of which have been enlarged on one 

 side, producing a form much used in heraldry, but one very rarely met 

 with in aboriginal American art. The head is somewhat heart-shaped 

 and is armed with palpi and mandibles, the latter being ornamented 

 with a zigzag line and prolonged to the marginal lines of the disk. The 

 eyes are rei)resented by two small circles with central dots. The legs 

 are correctly placed in four pairs upon the thorax, and are very graph- 

 ically drawn. The abdomen is large and heart-shaped, and is orna- 

 mented with a number of lines alid dots, which represent the natural 

 markings of the spider. The perforations for suspension are placed 

 near the posterior extremity of the abdomen. It will be observed that 

 this is also the case with the three other specimens. Having described 

 this si)ecimen somewhat carefully, it will be unnecessary to give a de- 

 tailed description of the very similar specimen shown in Fig. 2. The 

 latter was found in a stone grave in Saint Clair County, Illinois, and does 

 not differ in any essential feature from either of the other specimens, one 

 of which was found near by, and the other about one hundred miles 

 farther south. 



In reference to the cross it has been suggested that it may have been 



' Croswell, in Transactions Academy of Science of Saint Louis, vol. Ill, p. 537. 



