﻿ACADEMY 
  OP 
  SCIENCES. 
  203 
  

  

  and 
  another 
  time 
  at 
  a 
  place 
  some 
  miles 
  farther 
  up 
  the 
  river. 
  In 
  

   my 
  opinion, 
  the 
  reason 
  for 
  the 
  Indians 
  burying 
  their 
  dead 
  so 
  near 
  

   the 
  habitations 
  of 
  the 
  living, 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  their 
  indolence 
  and 
  filthy 
  

   habits, 
  and 
  in 
  part, 
  perhaps, 
  to 
  the 
  desire 
  to 
  often 
  visit 
  the 
  graves 
  

   of 
  the 
  departed. 
  A 
  number 
  of 
  mounds 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  examined 
  on 
  

   the 
  Upper 
  Sacramento 
  and 
  American 
  Rivers, 
  appeared 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  partially 
  thrown 
  up 
  with 
  the 
  earth; 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  of 
  the 
  opinion 
  

   that 
  the 
  Indians 
  designed 
  them 
  to 
  raise 
  their 
  brush 
  huts 
  above 
  the 
  

   encroachments 
  of 
  the 
  spring 
  floods. 
  I 
  feel 
  quite 
  confident 
  that 
  sci- 
  

   entific 
  men 
  will 
  not 
  discover 
  anything 
  in 
  the 
  Indian 
  mounds 
  of 
  Cal- 
  

   ifornia 
  to 
  connect 
  them 
  with 
  a 
  prehistoric 
  age. 
  

  

  The 
  President 
  said, 
  that 
  up 
  north 
  the 
  Indians 
  seldom 
  bury 
  their 
  

   dead 
  near 
  their 
  homes. 
  They 
  sometimes 
  put 
  them 
  in 
  trees, 
  some- 
  

   times 
  in 
  canoes, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  in 
  the 
  ground. 
  In 
  Sitka, 
  however, 
  

   the 
  graves 
  are 
  all 
  very 
  near 
  the 
  homes 
  of 
  the 
  living. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Ellis 
  called 
  attention 
  to 
  a 
  large 
  mound 
  in 
  the 
  southern 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  city. 
  He 
  said 
  perhaps 
  the 
  Indians, 
  being 
  too 
  indolent, 
  had 
  

   buried 
  their 
  dead 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  easiest 
  to 
  dig. 
  As 
  to 
  the 
  hollow 
  

   in 
  the 
  center, 
  they 
  perhaps 
  threw 
  up 
  dust 
  around 
  the 
  edges 
  to 
  pro- 
  

   tect 
  themselves 
  from 
  the 
  wind. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Dameron 
  said 
  that 
  in 
  early 
  days 
  in 
  the 
  Sacramento 
  Valley, 
  

   they 
  burned 
  their 
  dead. 
  Perhaps 
  the 
  mounds 
  were 
  built 
  to 
  keep 
  

   them 
  from 
  the 
  

  

  Regular 
  Meeting, 
  Monday, 
  December 
  1st, 
  1873. 
  

   President 
  in 
  the 
  Chair. 
  

  

  Forty-one 
  members 
  present. 
  

  

  Henry 
  Kimball, 
  W. 
  N. 
  Lockington, 
  S. 
  P. 
  Carusi, 
  J. 
  R. 
  Scup- 
  

   ham, 
  and 
  E. 
  J. 
  Eraser, 
  M. 
  D., 
  were 
  elected 
  resident 
  members. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  C. 
  M. 
  Hitchcock, 
  resident 
  member, 
  having 
  paid 
  the 
  required 
  

   sum, 
  became 
  a 
  life 
  member. 
  

  

  