296 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 52 



parts of the skull, including its ventral surface, show more or less 

 infiltration with calcareous matter. The cavities of the long bones 

 are filled with dark-yellowish loess, which crumbles quite as readily 

 as would that from an ordinary well-settled deposit; at the ends, 

 how^ver, where there has been more exposure, the loess is hardened. 



The above description indicates approximately the extent of the 

 visible "fossilization" of the skeleton. With exception of the parts 

 that are incrusted or infiltrated with lime, the bones are not percep- 

 tibly heavier than the average, and are not <'halky, retaining ]irobably 

 considerable animal matter. 



To obtain a more ]irecise view of the '"fossilization" of the specimen, 

 a small fragment of bone from the vault of the skidl, with other speci- 

 mens from Homo pampseus and some motlern but weathered and 

 more or less fossil-appearing bones from the coast,* were subjected to 

 a limited chemical analysis. The work was done by Mr. J. G. Fair- 

 child, under Prof. F. W. Clarke, at the Ignited States Geological 

 Siu'vey, and the report is given below. In a letter accompanying the 

 report Professor Clarke says: 



"It is worth while to notice that the three specimens which jnirport 

 to be fossil were not perceptiblv lower in phosphoric aciil than the 

 others. They all give a strong odor of charring when burned, indi- 

 cating the relative quantities of organic matter." 



Department of the Interior, 

 United States Geological Survey, 



Division of Chcm.'istry. 



Be port of Analysis No. 252S. ( Material received from Charles D. Walcott for A. Hrdliika: 

 "Fossil" bones from Argentina) 



' Picked up on the beach or the sands and identified as belonging to recent species by Mr. J. W. Gidley, 

 the United States National Museum paleontologist. 



