The Eambles of an Idler 



its certain history, its Indian origin, its evident 

 purpose, and what might have been its career 

 ages ago, always arouses in us a degree of in- 

 terest that is pleasurable ; and this increases as 

 evidence of antiquity is brought before us. 

 Yet, the enthusiasm of the archaeologist, lead- 

 ing to endless extravagances and fantastic the- 

 ory, is persistently contradictory the moment 

 the maximum degree of antiquity is mentioned. 

 When man first appeared on the American con- 

 tinent, possibly we may never know; but that 

 evidence which makes his antiquity a geological 

 question is abundant and no less unmistakable 

 than the traces supposedly indicative of his 

 subsequent career. If geologists are timid, 

 archaeologists are overbold ; and the lack of in- 

 formation from the former and the clack of the 

 latter leave us ignorant where we would be 

 wise, and doubtful if either really knows 

 "what's what" even when he sees it. 



The botanist and entomologist are the only 

 specialists we have met, of late, who speak un- 

 hesitatingly. Flowers and butterflies, trees 

 and the beetles that bore into them, are unmis- 

 takable. We know an oak or an elm, when we 

 see them; and their respective insect-foes are 



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