66 



Hamilton and Wenham ; in another the swamps where 

 the magnolia grows in superb luxuriance, and also near 

 the foot of the trunks of some of the lofty pines and 

 hemlocks that little alpine plant, the Linncea borealis, is 

 found ; thus representatives of the flora of the North and 

 of the South find here a congenial soil. He spoke of his 

 familiarity with, and wanderings through, these woods 

 and along these shores some thirty or more years since, 

 and noted some of the great changes that have occurred, 

 especially by the opening of the railroad, thus render- 

 ing available the land adjacent to the rocky cliff's of 

 the coast for the summer residences of the citizens of the 

 metropolis. Ho recalled some of the incidents of the 

 early field mectingsin this town, and paid a passing trib- 

 ute of respect to several of those who then took an active 

 part in our doings and have long since ceased from their 

 labors. 



The President then called upon Vice President F. W. 

 PUTNAM, who in response said that he had not hud the 

 opportunity for a ramble, as he did not arrive until noon. 

 He had, however, seen a number of Indian articles in the 

 house of General Tannatt, by invitation, and he had been 

 much interested in a human skull found in Colorado and 

 now in the General's collection. This skull so closely 

 resembled the ordinary form of the Algonquin Indians, 

 such as are found in the Indian burial places in Massachu- 

 setts, as to lead to the belief that it had belonged to an 

 Indian of the same great family with our New England 

 tribes, though it was very venturesome to attempt to 

 place an isolated human skull in its proper ethnic group. 



Mr. Putnam then gave a general account of the several 

 forms of skulls prevailing among the American tribes, 

 and extended his remarks to a brief general review of 



