Apkil 20, 18S3.] 



SCIENCE. 



309 



and South America contained in tlie collections 

 of the museum. 



The extent to which copper implements 

 were disseminated among the aboriginal tribes 

 of America will be surprising to manj-. The 

 ornaments and implements lucidly' described 

 bj- Mr. Putnam are from places as widel}^ 

 separated as the bur- 

 ial-flelds of Maine, 

 Vermont, Massa- 

 chusetts, and the 

 mounds of the cen- 

 tral and south-west- 

 ern states ; besides a 

 fair representation 

 from Mexico, Cen- 

 tral America, and 

 Peru. In fact, ob- 

 jects made of copper 

 are as widel}- distrib- 

 uted in America as 

 are the stone imple- 

 ments of neolithic 

 forms. This, how- 

 ever, does not imply 

 that the same stage 

 of advancement had 

 been reached b}- cop- 

 per-using tribes all 

 over this territor}'. 

 In Mexico, Central 

 America, Peru, and 

 Chili, copper orna- 

 " ments and imple- 

 ments were cast, and 

 then finished b y 

 hammering. Mr. 

 Squier reports re- 

 mains of furnaces in 

 the ruins of Chimu, 

 where, in earh" times, 

 copper ores were 

 smelted. In Mr. 

 Putnam's opinion, 

 there is no evidence 

 that copijer was ever 

 cast in moulds by 

 the aboriginal tribes 

 of the United States ; 

 but native copper 

 was hammered by them, as these cuts show, 

 into innumerable shapes. Figs. 3 (here repro- 

 duced), 10, and 11 represent cruciform copper 

 ornaments ; but this seems to be a design of 

 natural conception, rather than a symbol of 

 Christianitj', as some have supposed. The 

 Sioux draw a figure of the cross to signify the 

 four winds. 



Besides the above notes, the report contains, 

 among other things, a brief account of the im- 

 portant exploration now in progress under the 

 auspices of the museum, of an extensive an- 

 cient cemetery at Madisonville, near Cincinnati. 



The institution needs a great increase of ^its 

 funds to equip it for its pressing work. Civ- 

 ilization is fast destroying all vestiges of pre- 

 historic races. The science of the whole 

 world and of all time will be enriched hy &ny 

 enlargement of the Peabod^- museum. 



THE PANTHER CREEK COAL-BASIN. 



Secoml geological surveii of Pennsylvania. J. I'. Lks- 

 LEY, state geologist. Anthracite district, Charles 

 A. AsHBURNEn, geologist in charge. Panther 

 Creek basin, [m] Carbon and SchutjlkiU Counties, 

 10 sheets vertical sections, 3 sheets; horizontal 

 sections, 3" sheets; map of the mines, 3 sheets; 

 diagram of surface-area, 1 sheet]. — Topographi- 

 cal map of the Panther Creek coal-basin, 1 sheet. 



— Preliminary map anthracite coal-Jields, 1 sheet. 



— I'roduction anthracite coal-Jields, 1 sheet. In 

 all, 13 sheets, 605 x 725 mm. 1882. 



The constantly increasing use of carto- 

 graphic and diagrammatic methods in illustra- 

 tion is an evidence of a most healthy advance 

 in thoroughness and accuracy in geological 

 work in this country. It is onl3' within a 

 comparatively few years that anj- trustworth}^ 

 topographical maps at all have been available 

 for our geological workers ; and even now, 

 outside of those made bj' government surveys 

 in the west, thej' cover but a very small pro- 

 portion of the area of the United States. 



The theoretical as well as practical value 

 of a geological map is directly dependent upon 

 the accuracy' and detail of its topographical 

 basis; and, no doubt, manj- bitterly disputed 

 questions which came up in earlier geological 

 work in this country, some of which are still 

 unsettled, would not have arisen, had it been 

 possible to carry on the work originally on a 

 sj'stematic basis, instead of bj' individual ob- 

 servers who had not the advantage of compar- 

 ing notes in the field, and who had either no 

 map at all, or such as, from want of accuracy 

 and detail, would be comparativelj' worthless. 

 For practical purposes, such as the develop- 

 ment of mineral deposits, the theoreticallj- 

 perfect map should contain in itself all the 

 necessarjf data ; so that no text would be re- 

 quired as an aid to its use in exploration, this 

 being emploj-ed simplj' for explanation of 

 methods of work and for theoretical deduc- 

 tions. 



The thirteen charts now before us, recently- 

 prepared by Mr. Charles A. Ashburner, geolo- 



