APPENDIX : ELEPHANT PIPES AND INSCRIBED TABLETS. 295 



This was not the spirit manifested by the late Joseph Henr)'. when in 

 charge of that Institution. In the Smithsonian Report for 1875, Prof. 

 Henry thus states his views : 



"It has been, from the first, the policy of this Institution to encourage the estal)- 

 lishment of such societies, on account of the great advantage they are to their mem- 

 bers in the way of intellectual and moral improvement, as well as in the way of pos- 

 itive contributions to science." * 



It cannot be denied that these small organizations, scattered through 

 the land, are doing excellent service in the cause of science. Being 

 located in their midst, they are thus brought close to the heart and 

 thought of the people. Their stated meetings attract persons of sci- 

 entific tastes and scholarly acciuirements. The wonders of the i)ast 

 and the wcyth of science are thus revealed. They insjjire enthusiasm 

 in arch;>iological research and an unflagging zeal in its prosecution. 

 They thus become powerful auxiharies to scientific education. Their 

 growing museums will first attract young eyes to admire, and then 

 retain them to study. Mere relic-hunting soon becomes serious arch- 

 ;^iological research. Out of these practical schools of the people will 

 come the great scientific students of the future. The work in these 

 small societies is all the more valuable that it is entirely disinterested. 

 Truth is its inspiration and reward. Watched by so many curicnis 

 eyes, frauds are well-nigh impossible. We have thus presented im- 

 portant services rendered to science by these "local societies" which 

 no gigantic institution, located at the political capital of our country, 

 and managed by salaried officers, could, by any possibility, have so 

 well performed. We think we may claim, without unseemly arrogance, 

 that the history of the Davenport Academy itself reveals some contri- 

 butions to science which will justify its existence. t 



Scholars will ever find an absorbing interest in archaeological re- 

 search. There is in the mind of man an innate craving to recover the 

 secrets of the past, and brooding in the thought of the explorer is the 

 confident expectation that in these ancient relics will yet be found 



* Smithsonian Report for 1875, pp. 217-219. 



fThc conclusions stated in the text are amply justitied by the facts. The D:ivcnporl Aciul- 

 emy is not only assailed by name, but it is plainly expressed that its discoveries are under bun, 

 and that its exploration of ancient mounds should be discontinued, inasmuch as each fresh dis- 

 covery " v.'iU be received v.'ith ever-increasing suspicion ."' Had our critic lieen kindly disposed, 

 his censure might have been more gently administered. He might have admitted the possibility 

 of our being deceived and not deceivers. He could have easilv attriliuted our short-comings tr) 

 our benighted location on tlie far hanks of the Mississippi, so distant from the Bureau of Eth- 

 nology! Our critic, however, is pitiless. He has studied the Indian character until he seems to 

 have imbibed his nature! We arc pelted with red-hot epithets! Nothing will satisfy his "de- 

 structive " appetite, unless our Mr. Gass puts aside his spade! 



