82 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



pictorial representations of animals, plants, etc. On the smaller 

 tablet are inscribed four circles, nearly perfect, one of them 

 divided into twelve equal parts, each marked with a peculiar 

 sign, and another into four equal parts. 



On motion of Dr. C. C. Parry the following resolution was 

 unanimously adopted : 



Resolved^ That the thanks of the Academy be presented to Rev. .J. 

 Gass for his interesting paper, for the zeal and intelligence with which he 

 has prosecuted his successful archaeological researches, and that the 

 tablets now on exhibition as the last result of his labors, be known and 

 designated in the future publications of the Academy as the Gass tab- 

 lets ; and further, that the matter of permanent record and illustration 

 be referred to the Publication Committee. 



General remarks on the recent remarkable mound discoveries 

 of the Rev. Mr. Gass were made by several members. It being 

 considered important to continue the excavations, a subscription 

 paper was put in circulation to raise funds for mound explora- 

 tion, and $45 was subscribed by members present. 



Dr. Parry read a letter from Miss Julia J. Wirt, giving some 

 further developments in regard to the mound opened near Pa}^- 

 son, Utah, of which she had recently written.* One of the 

 persons engaged in the opening of the mound had reluctantly 

 confessed to her that the wheat was taken from a mouse's nest, 

 two or three feet below the surface, and that the stone box was 

 a myth. The other parties in the exploration still stoutly de- 

 clare its genuineness, but there is little doubt that it is a fraud, 

 gotten up in the interests of the Mormon church. The finding 

 of the stone box accords very well with certain stories in the 

 "Pearl of Great Price," and other works published by the 

 Latter Day Saints. 



On motion of Dr. C. C. Parry, Mr. A. S. Tiffany was re- 

 quested to present to the Academy an illustrated paper on 

 Devonian Fossils, which he has in j)reparation, with a view to 

 its publication in the Proceedings of the Academy. 



Clarence Lindley read the following paper on 



*This voluuie, page 28. 



