68 THE RETROSPECT OF THE YEAR. 



Second, at Salisbury Point, on Thursday, July 23, 1885. 

 The party went by steam cars to Nevvburyport, and by 

 horse-cars to the place of meeting. At Deer Island, 

 Hon. Richard S. Spofford invited the party to alight and 

 to accept his hospitality. His fine residence and exten- 

 sive grounds were thrown open and an hour was most 

 pleasantly passed. Again taking the cars, the party visited 

 a curious formation of stones supposed by the residents in 

 the vicinity to be of Indian build. These flat stones are 

 placed in a circle, somewhat in the manner in which wells 

 are built, the diameter of the circle about six or seven 

 feet ; shovels and hoes were put in use and more or less of 

 the earth was removed from the inside, but nothing indi- 

 cating that it was built or even used by the Indians was 

 discovered. Mr. F. W. Putnam, who was of the party, 

 expressed the opinion that the stones were placed by the 

 white men at an early period, but for what purpose he 

 could not say. Thence the party proceeded to River-side 

 Hall where the afternoon session was held at 2.30 o'clock. 

 The meeting was called to order by the President, who in- 

 troduced Hev. Anson Titus of Amesbury, who made a 

 short address of welcome. Mr. Joseph Merrill of Ames- 

 bury read an interesting account of "Golgotha" the oldest 

 burying-ground in Salisbury ; Mr. Alfred Osgood of 

 Nevvburyport gave a humorous paper on the "Green-head 

 Fly Tabanus lineola." Mr. F. W. Putnam of the Pea- 

 body Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology at 

 Cambridge, spoke for an hour or more on the general sub- 

 ject of archaeology and described several small collections 

 of Indian implements which had been brought to the meet- 

 ing for identification ; all of these articles, arrowheads, 

 gouges, sinkers, etc., were found in Amesbury or Salis- 

 bury. The speaker said that all these specimens belonging 



