Februaey 7, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



207 



Dr. Metz and I carried on a ten years' explora- 

 tion for the Peabody Museum. The finding 

 of this iron at first seemed to prove that the 

 builders of the mound must have been in con- 

 tact with Europeans, and yet I knew that 

 every indication of great antiquity was present. 

 Tree growth, formation of soil over the mounds, 

 and the formation of limonite by infiltration, 

 were among these evidences. Still here was 

 iron in considerable quantities, and it became 

 an important question as to its origin. A 

 piece was cleaned for analysis and nickel was 

 shown to be present. Then a mass weighing 

 37 ounces was cut, and the section showed 

 crystals of olivine as well as the nickel. Soon 

 we found we had ornaments and implements 

 made of the same material. These were all 

 made by hammering the metal in the same 

 way as similar ornaments and implements were 

 made of copper. Thus we proved that this an- 

 cient people had found masses of meteoric or 

 native iron, and had used it the same as they 

 did native copper. Since then I have identified 

 ornaments and fragments from certainly three 

 distinct meteorites in our explorations of Ohio 

 mounds in widely separated parts of the State. 

 Among the implements are small axes, chisels 

 and awls or piercers. Some of the latter so 

 closely resemble this piece found by Mr. Moore, 

 particularly in its flaky oxidation, as to strongly 

 suggest that the object is purely of native make 

 from a piece of meteoric iron. I may mention 

 here that native copper, native silver, native 

 gold and native or meteoric iron were found 

 together on one altar in the Turner group in 

 Ohio, and also implements and ornaments made 

 from these metals. In this connection I will 

 again call the attention of archaeologists to the 

 important contribution on the sources of native 

 copper given in the second of this series of 

 memoirs by Mr. Moore. In this he has shown 

 that the copper objects from the mounds were 

 made of native copper. He has thus confirmed 

 the views of those archaeologists who have 

 denied the European origin of the copper. 



For many other interesting points relating to 

 the art and culture of the people who buried 

 their dead in these Florida mounds, I must 

 refer the reader to these instructive memoirs. 

 I am pleased to state that Mr. Moore is at the 



present time continuing his researches in Flor- 

 ida, and we shall undoubtedly soon welcome 

 another paper from him giving the results of 

 this winter's work. P. "W. Putnam. 



, Peabody Museum, Harvard University. 



The Dispersal of Shells. An inquiry into the 

 means of dispersal possessed by fresh-water 

 and land Mollusca. By Harry Wallis Kbw, 

 F. Z. S., with a preface by Alfred Ritssbi, 

 Wallace, LL.D., F. B. S., etc. With illus- 

 trations. London, Kegan Paul, Trench, 

 Triibner & Co., Ltd. 1893. 

 Although this little book has been published 

 for some time, the subject is one of perennial 

 interest, as naturalists will continue to gather 

 facts bearing upon it. Though at first sight a 

 rather limited field of inquiry, the author treats 

 of it in a fairly comprehensive way, the chap- 

 ters discussing the anomalies in local distribu- 

 tion, means of dispersal of .fresh-water and of 

 land shells, transplantation of bivalves and of 

 univalves, the tenacity of life of land shells, 

 the dispersal of slugs, the dispersal of fresh- 

 water and land mollusca by man, the ninth and 

 last chapter dealing with the fresh-water and 

 land mollusca introduced into the British Isles 

 by human agency. 



The book will be of value to American con- 

 chologists and field naturalists, as it is by no 

 means of local interest. 



Of a curious nature are the facts collected by 

 the author relating to the transportation of fresh 

 water bivalves by insects, batrachians and birds, 

 with the figures in illustration. 



We see nothing special to criticise, nor are we 

 aware of any omissions, except two which it 

 would have been well for the author to have 

 mentioned. The first is the introduction, by 

 probably human agency, of Helix hortensis at 

 different points on our northern coast, although 

 it is not clearly proven that the species is not 

 indigenous, yet this does not seem to us proba- 

 ble. Binney concludes that it has been un- 

 doubtedly imported to this continent. 



In Gould's illustrated report on the inverte- 

 brata of Massachusetts, edited by Binney, this 

 species is said to be "An European species in- 

 troduced by commerce (?) to the northeastern 

 portion of North America. It is found on 



