124 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



many specimens in possession of private collectors and obscure in- 

 stitutions, but the body of these ceramic treasures must be looked 

 for upon the shelves of a few great museums. The most important 

 of these are, the National Museum, at Washington ; the Peabody 

 Museum, at Cambridge; the Museum of the Academy of Sciences, 

 at Davenport, Iowa, and that of the Academy of Sciences at St. 

 Louis, Missouri. 



The most homogeneous and interesting collection of the ancient 

 earthenware of the middle portion of the Mississippi Valley has 

 been made by a handful of enthusiastic devotees of science, at Da- 

 venport, Iowa. 



These good people have been fortunate in the location of their 

 museum and in the character of the collectors who have chosen to 

 favor them. Captain Hall, the '-Old Man of the Skiff," has 

 haunted the banks of the "Father of Waters" for years, and has 

 brought boat load after boat load of curious and interesting relics 

 to this haven at Davenport. The museum of the Academy of 

 Sciences at this place is now a great treasure-house of the art of the 

 ancient inhabitants. I am fortunate in being able to join the peo- 

 ple of Davenport in the preparation of a part of this fine collection 

 for publication and in assisting them to give to the world some 

 of the fruits of their long years of toil. 



When the final work upon the ceramic art of the mound-building 

 tribes shall come to be written, the series of objects here described 

 will, I doubt not, furnish the material for a most important chapter. 

 It must not be supposed that the resources of this collection are at 

 all exhausted. The study here coi'nmenced could be greatly ex- 

 tended. Neither have the labors of the self-sacrificing collectors 

 ceased. They are still going on, and as the years multiply, we 

 shall have the pleasure of seeing the treasures of the Academy 

 increase indefinitely. 



I take this opportunity to acknowledge my obligations to my 

 friends in Davenport, especially to Mrs. M. L. D. Putnam and 

 Prof. W. H. Pratt, and to thank them and their associates for most 

 generous and courteous assistance. 



