AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. Ill 



who get a good living by trafficking in archaeological 

 goods. The dealers buy, sell, and exchange, and be- 

 come experts in the purchasable worth of relics. The 

 plow and the spade are constantly turning up new ma- 

 terial. The best preserved hollow utensils, as vases, 

 water jugs, pans and plates, are now brought from 

 Missouri. Some specimens are so fresh and perfect 

 that the suspicion has arisen that a modern manu- 

 factory may have been started in that region. At 

 McCutchinville, in Northern Ohio, a man has a 

 large and curious stock of " archaeological goods," 

 which he has made with his own hands. He has 

 agents out to supply those persons who have a desire 

 to possess a rare collection of " relics." A critical 

 and experienced collector will determine what is 

 spurious and what is genuine as readily as a banker 

 can detect a counterfeit note. 



In this connection it may be stated that several 

 noted frauds have been committed by persons who at 

 first were deemed incompetent to practice them. There 

 has been such a desire to discover alphabetical signs 

 or characters which should indicate the origin of the 

 mound building race that the inducement to acquire 

 fame by unearthing a pictured or inscribed stone, or 

 one bearing engraved characters that might be inter- 

 preted, has actually led to the execution of a few gross 

 deceptions. In 1860, an engraved stone was put on 

 exhibition in Cincinnati. The specimen was called 

 the " Holy Stone " by its alleged finder, possessor, and 

 exhibitor. It was claimed to have been exhumed 

 from a mound opened near Newark, Licking county, 

 Ohio. Every body supposed the stone was genuine, 

 until some critical Hebrew scholars examined the 

 characters plainly chiseled on the face of the u dor- 



