228 TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



This mound under discussion was 1 1 feet high and 30 feet in di- 

 ameter at the base. The soil composing the mound is identical 

 with that of the country ; this soil is principally a clay mixed 

 with a little sand. (See "Silt Analysis of Soils- of Mississippi." 

 by E. W. Hilgard, in American Journal of Science and Art.) 

 The mound was formerly covered by a heavy growth of timber, 

 but is now nearly bare, only one tree standing, a very large white 

 oak (^Q.alba, L.), 36 inches in diameter; a few steps distant, and 

 nearly the centre of the top surface of the cone, is the trunk of 

 another oak. 30 inches in diameter. 



I commenced investigation by driving an open tunnel, from 

 three different points, on a level with the base towards the cen- 

 tre ; after excavating 8 or 10 feet a skull was discovered, but in 

 such a decayed condition that it immediately crumbled to pieces. 

 A few minutes later the workmen in the other two ditches made 

 similar discoveries. We now became more careful, and by 

 digging around the skull we were able to procure it intact by 

 removing a considerable amount of soil. 



The skulls were in a very poor state of preservation — the gela- 

 tinous matter had been entirely dissolved away, and the earthy 

 material very much resembled a spongy mass saturated with wa- 

 ter, being so soft that water could be pressed out by a very slight 

 force ; the bony structure was very fragile, but on drying became 

 quite hard and brittle. 



The soil contained a great deal of moisture, being perfectly sa- 

 turated from two feet below the surface to the base of the mound, 

 and, as the soil was usually in that condition, it was verj' ,unfa- 

 vorable to the preservation of the remains. In one of the better 

 preserved specimens I observed a characteristic which Foster 

 points out in his " Pi'ehistoric Races of the United States" — the 

 tendency at the union between the parietal and squamous bones 

 towards a straight line. In nearly all of the specimens, although 

 the skulls were in a very decayed condition, the perfect form re- 

 mained ; the nasal bones stood out prominently, and the large 

 massive jaw-bones were filled with worn but well-preserved 

 teeth ; except portions of the upper jaw-bone, none of the 

 facial bones were wanting. From the size of the skulls, I 

 judge the twelve skeletons exhumed were all adults. !Many 



