TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 915 



formation of the Zufii gourds, or water-vessels, showing liow they were covered 

 with wicker-work in order to preserve them. The Zufiis regard the howls they 

 make as possessing something of the nature of life or spirit ; they place lood and 

 water near the vessel, and as the woman completes it she imagines she has made 

 something like a living being. The different sounds made, by the pots when they 

 are struck, or as their contents boil, are believed to be the voices of the beings which 

 are associated with the vessels. Apertures or blank spaces are left for the escape 

 of the spirit. A Zuiii woman, as she closes the apex of a pointed clay vessel, turns 

 her eyes away, and says she is fearful to watch this operation. The Zunis in re- 

 presenting animals always show a kind of line or passage leading from the throat 

 to the heart. In conclusion the author referred to the probable origin of the shapes 

 used in the pottery of America. 



3. The Huron-Iroquois, a typical race of American Aborigines. 

 By Dr. Daniel Wilson. 



4. Anthropological Discoveries in Canada. By C. A. Hibschfelder. 



The ancient remains of Canada have, as yet, been by no means satisfactorily 

 examined, and consequently but superficially described ; and although we have- 

 stone ruins, still that does not detract from the interest of the prehistoric works 

 found scattered over various sections of this country, which are well worthy 

 of a thorough scientific examination. The forts, which were built principally of 

 earth, although stone was not unfrequently used to some extent in their con- 

 struction, are particularly interesting from two points of view — viz., the almost 

 perfect symmetrical shape, and the advantageous positions which were invariably 

 chosen. As to the first-named feature, they bear a striking resemblance to the 

 ancient earthworks of the Western States, by which some writers have en- 

 deavoured to prove that the authors of those works must have been advanced in 

 certain sciences. As to the situation of these forts, their ancient builders seem to have 

 carefully studied localities, and to have fully appreciated the advantages to be 

 gained thereby, as the situations chosen were invariably such as to either command 

 a view for a long distance over the country, or, if near the water, to be so con-, 

 structed that a fleet of canoes could be seen a long distance away, so that sudden 

 attacks by water would be impracticable. 



The forts were generally made either circular or oval, although one or two 

 surveyed were crescent or semicircular, the form probably depending upon the lie 

 of the land ; and it is very singular that there has not been, to my knowledge, a 

 single fort discovered in Canada which even approaches a square. Entrenchments 

 seem to have been a not uncommon mode of defence, and have every appearance 

 of being anterior to the wall or embankment forts ; the largest one surveyed was 

 half a mile in circumference, of a circular form, and, judging by counting the con- 

 centric rings of trees growing right in the ditch, which must have grown after the 

 fort was constructed, also by decayed vegetable-matter and other evidences, was 

 computed to be from 800 to 1,000 years old. 



Ancient burial-places may be classed under three heads — mounds, ossuaries, aud 

 single graves. Mounds are not of freqitent occurrence in Canada, and all which 

 have so far been examined have contained human bones, proving they were used as 

 burial repositories. These tumuli (if they may be so termed) are not by any means 

 large; they generally measure about one hundred feet in circumference, and are 

 only about five feet high. The dead seem to have been buried without any regular 

 system, each mound containing from six to twelve bodies. 



The ossuaries are probably the most interesting remains we have. They consist 

 of round symmetrical holes dug to the required depth, in which the bodies were 

 promiscuously deposited : some of the larger ones contain the remains of several 

 thousand bodies. 



The single graves are the mcst ordinary remains, and are generally found on 

 high ground, a hill-top beirg a favourite site. In dwelling on the question of 



