May 3, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



349 



cent. The analyses are to be found in the Baltimore American 

 of April 22, 1888, and are signed by the writer and his co-worker, 

 Dr. William Simon. Both of us had repeatedly bought in the 

 markets, and together had analyzed, similar candy with the same 

 results. The quantity sold in a market on a market-day appar- 

 ently was not less than ten nor more than thirty pounds. We 

 have preserved samples of the material, and shall be glad to divide 

 them with workers in this field. Such candy, consumed in such 

 quantities, cannot have failed to produce in Baltimore an abundance 

 of lead-poisoning. 



From all this we deduce the following conclusions : that lead 

 chromate breathed as dust, or taken into the digestive apparatus, 

 produces lead-poisoning ; that commercial chrome yellow ingested 

 with food-stuffs produces more quickly the same result ; that 

 chrome yellow is a mixture of lead chromate and lead sulphate, to 

 which frequently is added white lead (2 Pb CO3 -(- Pb HoOg) ; 

 that none of these substances are corrosive poisons ; that bakers' 

 and confectioners' products not infrequently are colored with chrome 

 yellow, and often are sources of lead-poisoning, which may exist 

 largely in a community and yet escape detection. Wm. Glenn. 



Baltimore, April 26. 



A Mound in Calhoun County, III. 



Mr. Middle'jSn, one of the assistants of the Bureau of Eth- 

 nology, has receuily excavated quite a number of mounds in Cal- 

 houn County, 111., among them one presenting some features of 

 special interest. The following description is taken from Mr. Mid- 

 dleton's field-notes. 



This mound, which forms one of a group of five located on the 

 spur of a bluff about one hundred and fifty feet high, overlooking 

 the Illinois River, stands at the brink of a precipice. It is conical 

 in form, and ninety-five feet in diameter at the base. 



As the internal structure is the most interesting feature, a figure 

 is given showing a vertical section, in which W - E indicates the line 

 of the natural surface of the bluff, as well as the direction of the 

 section. 



" From the top downward to the depth of fourteen feet," says Mr. 

 Middleton, " we passed through a layer composed chiefly of yellow 

 clay (a) obtained from the surrounding surface of the bluff. Near the 

 centre, at the depth of four feet, was a horizontal bed ib) of hard gray 

 earth, — apparently muck from the river, — eight inches thick, and 

 covering an area about twenty feet in diameter. Three feet lower 

 was a bed (f) of burnt clay about the same thickness and extent as 

 the preceding. Although particles of charcoal were mixed through 

 it, no ashes were observed on or about it. 



" At the depth of fourteen feet we reached what seems to have 

 been the nucleus or original mound, over which the heavy mass of 

 clay had been cast at some subsequent period. Over this lay a 

 thin covering of whitish material {/,/), apparently light ashes, not 

 more than two inches thick, and extending on all sides to the origi- 

 nal base. This rested, for the most part, on a single layer of 

 stones ig, ff), the latter lacking several feet of extending to the 

 outer margin. Examining carefully the stones which formed this 

 layer, evidences of weathering on the upper side were distinctly 

 visible, showing that the mound must have remained undisturbed 

 at this height for a considerable length of time. The thin stratum 

 of ashes over it seems to confirm this view, as the charred stems 

 of grass near the outer margin show that this was produced by 

 burning a covering of grass which had grown over it. The dark 

 spots {d and e) indicate two small fire-beds resting on the layer 

 of stones. 



" Removing the stones, and cutting a trench through the low, 

 broad, original mound or nucleus to the natural surface of the bluff, 

 we found the construction to be as shown in the figure, — an oval 

 basin {::), ten by thirteen feet in extent and three feet deep, lined 

 throughout with a layer of stones similar to those above. It waS' 

 filled with the yellow surface soil of the ridge. The stones, which 

 bore very distinct marks of weathering, were covered with a thin 

 layer of white ashes mixed with charred leaves and grass. Under 

 the stones, and resting on the natural surface of the ridge, was a thin 

 layer of decayed vegetable matter. The slopes (i-i) surrounding 

 the basin were of yellow clay similar to that of the thick upper 

 layer of the mound. The dark spots (Ji and k) are small fire- 

 beds. 



" Partly under and partly in the bottom layer of decayed vegeta- 

 ble matter, and exactly in the centre of the mound, was a single 

 skeleton (/) lying on the back at full length, the feet to the south ; 

 but the head was wanting. Not a tooth, or particle of the jaw or 

 skull, was to be found, though careful search was made. As all the 

 other bones were well preserved and comparatively sound, except 

 that the pelvis and some of the ribs were broken, I presume the 

 head must have been removed before burial. This is the second 

 instance I have observed in which the head was removed before 

 burial. The first was dug up at Pecan Point, Arkansas. 



"Six feet south of the centre of the mound was a small deposit 

 of burned bones {s), lying on the natural surface of the bluff. Seven 

 feet west of the centre, lying on the original soil, were the remains 

 of an infant. It had been doubled up until the knees touched the 

 chin, wrapped in a grass covering, and placed upon its left side. 



'• A shell-shaped vessel at the right shoulder of the large skele- 

 ton, and a shell, were the only specimens found in the mound.. 

 The latter was in a stone box or cist two feet and a half square and 

 one foot deep, resting on the natural surface of the ridge. Not a 

 fragment of bone was found in this box. 



" Another singular feature observed consisted of three small pits. 

 («, V, x) under the eastern base of the upper layer. These were 

 three holes, from fifteen to eighteen inches In diameter, and one foot 

 deep. One of them contained particles of rotten wood. There 

 were several intrusive burials in the thick upper clay layer, which 

 presented nothing of special interest." 



It is apparent, from Mr. Middleton's figure and description, that 

 we have in this tumulus a specimen of the Ohio " altar-mound " 

 type, possibly a prototype. What he calls the nucleus or original 

 mound is beyond question one of the so-called " altars " of the type 

 described by Messrs. Squier and Davis, and is one more item of 

 evidence that the Ohio mound-builders came from the West, as I 

 have contended elsewhere. CYRUS Thomas. 



Washington, D.C., April 23. 



New Sources of Heat. 



If, as I take it, the communication of your correspondent " X," 

 on p. 329 of your issue of April 26, is intended as a sort of ex- 

 posure, it is to be warmly welcomed. 



What Mr. Blodget has actually done, I cannot say ; but that his 

 assertions are extremely inaccurate, I know. He states that "in 

 all cases where a powerful blast is applied to the limited area of a 

 melting-furnace . . . the degree of heat generated is greatly in 

 excess of the theoretical yield of the number of pounds of coal con- 

 sumed." This is absolutely untrue. On the contrary, measure- 

 ments of the heat actually developed under these conditions agree 

 surprisingly closely with the " theoretical yield of the number of 

 pounds of coal consumed." This is well exemplified in Bell's cal- 

 culations and measurements of the heat developed in the blast- 

 furnace. 



Mr. Blodget's statement that this excess of heat generated over 

 the theoretical yield of the coal is particularly great in the Besse- 

 mer converter, is a case of astonishing ignorance, or, as I prefer to 

 believe, of extreme carelessnessin the use of words. I supposed 

 that every reader of Science knew that no carbonaceous fuel was 

 burned in the Bessemer converter (except, of course, in heating the 

 converter between operations). A new Keely motor seems to be 

 born. Caveat emptor. Henry M. Howe. 



Boston, April 29. 



