MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND FIGURES. 



605 



tribes, and that, after centuries of occupation, 

 they disappeared at least a thousand, and 

 perhaps many thousand, years before the ad- 

 vent of Europeans. The theory has been 

 advanced that these people migrated from 

 Asia ; that they passed over Asia to Siberia, 

 across Behring Siraits, down the Pacific coast 

 of America from Alaska, and to the Mississippi 

 valley, and down to Mexico, Central America, 

 and Peru. The remains of the Mound Build- 

 ers, as this vanished people are called, are 

 scattered over most of the states of the central 

 and lower Mississippi valley, along the banks 

 of the Missouri, and on the sources of the Alle- 

 gheny. They are most numerous in Ohio, 

 Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkan- 

 sas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Ala- 

 bama, Georgia, Florida, Texas, and are found 

 in the western part of New York, and in Mich- 

 igan and Iowa. These mounds vary greatly in 

 size, and in some instances are very extensive 

 and exceedingly intricate, notably those of the 

 Licking valley, near Newark, Ohio, which 

 cover an area of two square miles ; in other 

 localities there are some which reach a height 

 of ninety feet. It is not believed that these 

 people had any written language, as no in- 

 scriptions or tablets yet discovered indicate 

 this. Many of these mounds have been found 

 to contain skeletons, numerous implements 

 and ornaments, usually composed of stone, 

 sometimes of copper in its native state 

 and occasionally shell and bone ; also coarse 

 and rude pottery of curious design. In sub- 

 stantiation of the belief that these people came 

 from Asia, is the fact that in Siberia mounds 

 have been found similar to those in the Missis- 

 sippi valley. 



Vegetable Origins. Spinach is a Per- 

 sian plant. 



Horse-radish is a native of England. 



Melons were found originally in Asia. 



Filberts originally came from Greece. 



Quinces originally came from Corinth. 



The turnip originally came from Rome. 



The peach originally came from Persia. 



Sage is a native of the south of Europe. 



Sweet marjoram is a native of Portugal. 



The bean is said to be a native of Egypt. 



Damsons originally came from Damascus. 



The nasturtium came originally from Pern. 



The pea is a native of the south of Europe. 



Ginger is a native of the East and West 

 Indies. 



The gooseberry is indigenous to Great Brit- 

 ain. 



Coriander seed came originally from the 

 East. 



Apricots are indigenous to the plains of 

 America- 



The cucumber was originally a tropical vege- 

 table. 



The walnut is a native of Persia, the Cau- 

 casus, and China. 



Capers originally grew wild in Greece and 

 northern Africa. 



Pears were originally brought from the 

 East by the Romans. 



The clove is a native of the Malacca Islands, 

 as is also the nutmeg. 



Cherries were known in Asia as far back as 

 the seventeenth century. 



Garlic came to us first from Sicily and the 

 shores of the Mediterranean. 



Asparagus was originally a wild seacoasfe 

 plant, and is a native of Great Britain. 



The tomato is a native of Soiith America, 

 and it takes its name from a Portuguese word. 



Parsley is said to have come from Egypt, And 

 mythology tells us it was used to adorn the 

 head of Hercules. 



Apples were originally brought from the 

 East by the Romans. The crab apple is in- 

 digenous to Great Britain . 



The onion was almost an object of worship 

 with the Egyptians 2,000 years before the 

 Christian era. It first came from India. 



Cloves came to us from the Indies, and take 

 their name from the Latin clauvis, meaning a 

 nail, to which they have a resemblance. 



The cantaloupe is a native of America, and 

 so called from the name of a place near Rome, 

 where it was first cultivated in Europe. 



Lemons were used by the Romans to keep 

 moths from their garments, and in the time of 

 Pliny they were considered an excellent poison. 

 They are a native of Asia. 



Slavery in the North. The first state 

 to abolish slavery within her borders was Ver- 

 mont, which adopted a plan for gradual eman- 

 cipation in 1777, before she had joined the 

 Union, and in 1800 slavery in that state had 

 entirely ceased. The new Massachusetts con- 

 stitution, adopted in 1780, contained a clause 

 declaring that "all men are born free and 

 equal, and have certain natural, essential, and 

 inalienable rights, among which may be reck- 

 oned the right of enjoying and defending their 

 lives and liberties," which had the effect of 

 freeing all the slaves, a very small number, 

 then held within the borders of that state. 

 In 1780 there were 4,000 slaves in Pennsylva- 

 nia, and in that year their gradual emancipa- 

 tion was provided for by legislative enactment. 

 Sixty-four of these were still living in bond- 

 age, however, in 1840. Rhode Island and 

 Connecticut followed the example of Pennsyl- 

 vania, and the former had but five slaves left 

 in 1840, and the latter seventeen. New York 

 passed a gradual emancipation act in 1799, at 



