THE HUMAN BONES OF THE HEMENWAY COLLECTION IN THE UNITED 

 STATES ARMY MEDICAL MUSEUM AT WASHINGTON, 



BY 



DR. WASHINGTON MATTHEWS, 



SURGEON, U. S. ARMY; 



WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE HYOID BONES OF THIS COLLECTION 



BY 



DR. J. L. WORTMAN. 



REPORTS PRESENTED TO THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE 

 SURGEON-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY, 



DR. JOHN S. BILLINGS, 



SURGEON, U. S. ARMY. 



In 1887 an expedition was fitted out under the direction of Mr. Frank Gushing, with funds 

 supplied by the liberality of Mrs. Mary Heinenway, of Boston, for exploring certain ruins in the 

 valley of the Gila River, in the Territory of Arizona. 



The work of exploration was commenced with a mound of large size, apparently little n.uie 

 than a rude pile of earth, in the valley of the Salado, or Salt River, a tributary of the Gila. This 

 proved to be the ruins of a large earthen house, apparently analogous in structure to the still 

 standing Casa Grande, which lies about 35 miles to the southeast, and these ruins were found to 

 be a part of a congregation of houses or a city, extending about G miles in length, and from half a 

 mile to a mile in width along the valley. A large number of human bones were found under the 

 Hours of the houses, so large a number, in fact, that Mr. Gushing gave the place the name of Los 

 Muertos, or the town of the dead. 



When the work v:as fairly under way Mr. Gushing was taken sick, and application was made 

 by the Hemenway Exploring Expedition to the Surgeon-General to allow Dr. Washington 

 Matthews, of the Army, to go out and take Mr. Cushing s place during his illness, to supervise the 

 explorations. Dr. Matthews went to Los Muertos in the month of August, 1887. He found that no 

 attention had been paid to the collection or. preservation of human bones, which were extremely 

 fragile, crumbling to dust upon a touch, and which had been thrown about and trampled under 

 foot by curious visitors, so that but little remained of value from the work which had been 

 previously done. Recognizing the importance and interest of these remains, he set to work to 

 preserve the bones excavated after his arrival as far as possible, and reported the facts to me, 

 suggesting that, if possible, the anatomist of the Army Medical Museum, Dr. J. L. Wort man. 

 should be sent out furnished with means for preserving these bones as las! as they were excavated, 

 and carefully collecting and forwarding I hem to the Army Medical Museum for study. 



In accordance with these suggestions Dr. Wortman wentont in November, 1887, taking with 

 him a supply of silicate of soda, glue, parallin, and other materials for saturating and preserving 

 the bones \vhich should be discovered, and remained with the expedition, visiting several other 

 &quot;alities, until June, 1888, when lie returned to \Vashington. 



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