65 



and a half feet to oue side of these stones a copper bead one-half inch in 

 diameter and thickly encrnsted Avith the green carbonate of copper was 

 found. No bones were found at this level. On the original soil, at the 

 bottom of the mound, a large qiiantitj- of charcoal and ashes, and one or 

 two bone fragments, probably non-human, were obtained. With these 

 there were fragments of burnt limestone. The failiu-e to find human 

 bones in this mound may be due to its great age, or it may be accounted 

 for by the partial destruction of the mound by cultivation, since such 

 material may have been ploughed out and no record made of the fact. 



The AVater Supply of Havana, Cuba. 



C. H. ElGENMAXX. 



Until recent years the water supply of Havana came from the Almen- 

 dares River. During the nineties the present waterworks, deriving the 

 entire supply from a large spring at Vento. on the south bank of the 

 Almendares River, was completed. The Vento Springs and the covered 

 aqueduct leading its waters under the Almendares River and into Havana 

 are the pride of the city of Havana, which has erected an imposing monu- 

 ment to the engineer by whom the work was conceived. The Vento 

 Springs are surrounded by masonry with walls sloping outward from the 

 springs, except on the side nearest the Almendares River, where they are 

 vertical. The surface water ruuning down the slopes of the masonry ai"e 

 caught in a gutter which discharges it into the Almendares. At the top 

 of the masonry, and some distance removed from its margin, another 

 gutter catches the surface water of the region sloping toward the springs, 

 and discharges this also into the Almendares. The spring water flows 

 direct from the basin into the covered aqueduct. The provisions for 

 maintaining the water in its original purity from the time it issues from 

 the ground till it is discharged either into the reservoirs near the city, or 

 direct from the faucets in the city, seem ideal. 



There has been some speculation as to the origin of the water issuing 

 from the spring at Vento. The water is beautifully clear and rather 

 warm, having a temperatiu'e of 2tj"C. at the time of our visit. The Almen- 

 dares River, flowing but a few feet away, also has clear water except 

 after heavy rains, and its water at the time of our visit was slightly colder 

 than that of the springs. It is possible that the Vento Springs derive 

 5 — Academy of Science. 



