8KKI-I !M. KKMAINS 29 



Professor Raird, fit that tim- lary <>f the Smith-onian 



rn-titution. In tin- ellcct that tin* locality at which the Knck IllutT 

 skull \va- discovered had been examined ly " .McConnell." who found 

 that the drift in which the specimen lay wa-> in n< way di-turU'd and 

 that, therefore, the -Uull wa< not intru-ive, but coincided in age with 

 the formation of the deposit. Schmidt end- In- account with the 

 opinion that the age of the two specimens (skull and lower jaw, th 

 latter of which he con-idered as l>clonging to a different liody). pro- 

 \ided it i- e-tahlished that they were found in undifltorbed drift, is 

 very considerable and referable to "the Champlain, or even to the 

 glacial, ejx>ch." 



A search in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution resulted 

 in finding two letters from Mr. McConnell, of Jacksonville, Illinois, 

 the donor of the skull. It is not disclosed who Mr. McConnell was; 

 there appear to be no contributions under that name to the literature 

 of either geology or anthropology. In his letter of June 4, 1806, 

 addressed to Prof. Joseph Henry, is the following: 



I hare sent to you by express u small !H>X containing n human skull of an 

 unusual shape and formation. It is evidently not deformed, hut a natural 

 skull, aixl from its sha|x> and the place where it was found it is believed not to 

 have belonged to any race of men now known to exist, and it is conjectured 

 it may have belonged to a preadamite race, if there was any such race. . . . 

 I have never met with such a formed head, either living or dead, as this, aiul 

 for this reason I send it to you, supi>osing from your opportunities in this 

 branch of science you might determine if I am right in sup|M>sing this s|x>cimcn 

 not to have belonged to any one of the present races no-.v extant. I now will 

 refer particularly to the place where this skull was found. The Illinois river 

 . . . has cut through the various stratas down to n level, and in many cases 

 below the up|>er coal-deix>sits. Along the Illinois bluff the strata of rock cover- 

 ing this coal deposit crop out. and this rock is quarried for building puri>oses. 

 In one of these quarries a few miles south of the fortieth degnv of north lati- 

 tude this skull was found, several feet of clay. sand, and broken stone were 

 taken off of the strata, and, in quarrying, a rift or seam in the rock was found, 

 about 3 feet wide, filled with the same material that covered the quarry, and 

 in this rift or seam in the rock, tlrmly embedded in this clay. sand, and broken 

 material, this skull was found. Examination showed that it had evidently l>ecn 

 thrown, or washed. Into that opening in the rock with the material that sur- 

 rounded it. 



In the neighborhood of this quarry and indeed all along the Illinois river 

 an- found many mounds, called in this country Indian mounds, but evidently 

 (they) have no connection with the present race of Indians. 



Ill an additional note to Professor Henry, of June 11, 18GC, Mr. 

 McConnell, besides enumerating various persons who would vouch 

 for his character, says: 



I have been a long time in the valley of the Mississippi and have traveled 

 over most <>f it and have always had a pfexft/on for hunting up old relics and 

 studying this and geology by actual personal examination. 



