Trans. N. Y. Ac. Sct. 82 April 7, 
etc. There were even several arrow-heads figured by BoucHER 
DE PERTHES among his first finds in the first volume of the “ An- 
tiquités Celtiques et Antédiluviennes,” 1849, Plates XXIX. and 
XXX., described in Chapter XIX. The form of the arrow-heads was 
sometimes that of simple, rude flakes, slender and wedge-pointed, 
but a more characteristic and unmistakable variety, represented 
by the specimens exhibited, was heart-shaped, 7.¢., triangular, 
with a basal indentation or nick. The evidence M. DE PERTHES 
had brought forward, and fully illustrated in all the volumes of his 
work, of the discovery of rudely formed Paleolithic knives, awls, 
augers, hammers, saws, etc., had been fully confirmed by later 
examination of the oldest gravels. In the valley of the Somme, 
at least, the Paleolithic inhabitant was far more than a “savage 
hunter,” and found in the flint a material easily chipped into many 
useful forms beside that of a “‘ rude axe of roughly chipped stone.” 
The PRESIDENT remarked on the beautiful arrow-heads of obsid- 
ian, which had been used by the native tribes in the Western 
territories, and which he had especially admired in a tribe in Ore- 
gon. He also called attention to an article in the same number 
of the American Antiquarian, on the subject of recent explora- 
tions in Assyria, which had given us very important additions to 
our knowledge of the ancient civilization of that valley. 
A paper was then read by Mr. WILLIAM L. ELSEFFER, C. E., on 
the subject of the 
HYDRAULICS OF THE MISSISSIPPI FROM CAIRO TO THE GULF. 
DISCUSSION. 
The PRESIDENT observed that the question was one which affected 
the larger portion of the United States. He had made a journey last 
winter with a portion of the Commission on the Mississippi River Im- 
provement, and found, in conversation, that there was considerable 
difference of opinion in the Commission and among the experts. The 
problem was one altogether novel and untried. Without trial, by 
actual experiment, the people will not be satisfied. Major POWELL, of 
the Geological Survey, had proposed to meet the evil of the inunda- 
tions at the sources of the river, by diverting the surplus water of the 
upper tributaries, on the west slope of the Mississippi basin, into chan- 
nels for irrigation of the arid plains of the central plateau of the con- 
tinent. Such an artificial supply of water is sorely needed at the 
