PREFATORY NOTE. 



The following vindication of the authenticity of the elephant pipes and inscribed 

 tablets in the museum of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences from the 

 accusations of the Bureau of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution was pre- 

 pared in response to an earnest feeling entertained by members of the Davenport 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, and in its preparation the writer has had their 

 hearty cooperation and active assistance. Especial acknowledgments are due to 

 Mr. William H. Pratt, the Curator and Corresponding Secretary of the Academy, 

 whose extensive researches in archaeology enabled him to furnish much valuable 

 material for incorporation in this paper; to Rev. A. M. Judy, Mr. James Thompson, 

 and Dr. C. H. Preston, who, as a special committee on behalf of the Academy, 

 thoroughly investigated all the circumstances connected with the transactions in 

 question, and freely placed at the disposal of the writer the results of their inves- 

 tigation; and to our honored associates, Prof. D. S. Sheldon and Rev. W. H. 

 Barris, of Griswold College, who carefully reviewed the paper and favored the 

 writer with excellent suggestions. An expression of grateful appreciation is also 

 due to those correspondents, in various parts of the country, who, in strong terms, 

 have expressed their condemnation of the unjustifiable attack made upon the 

 Academy by the United States Bureau of Ethnology; and, in entering upon the 

 preparation of this vindication, the writer has derived great encouragement from 

 the hearty assurances of approbation and support received from these eminent 

 archaeologists. C. E. P. 



Davenport, Iowa, Febiuai y 9th, iSSj. 



