626 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. Vin., Nc. 204 



into a slight sag in the ridge, caused by the en- 

 croachment of opposing drainage, and ascend 

 again slightly to a point vvhere the body straight- 

 ens out along the ridge. Beyond this we reach 

 the curious enlargement with its triangular and 

 oval enclosures. Here the body embankment is 

 divided into two parts, which respectively pass 

 to the right and left of the enclosures. At the 

 sides they descend slightly upon the slopes of the 

 ridge, and at the widest part of the oval are some- 

 what obscure on account either of original con- 

 formation or of subsequent erosion. Beyond these 

 breaks they continue, closing entirely around the 



body of the serpent, and the peculiar features of 

 the enlarged jjortion, are all distinctly traceable, 

 as shown approximately in the accompany ing 

 map, and leave no doubt in the mind as to their 

 artificial character. The work was carefully laid 

 out and neatly executed, and, reduced as it now 

 is, it is of a most stable nature. The earth em- 

 ployed is extremely compact; and the elevation 

 of the body is so slight, as compared with its 

 width, that time, unassisted by the plough, pro- 

 duces but little change. The height rarely reaches 

 three feet, and the width at the base is in many 

 parts fifteen feet or more. 



Fig. 1.— Sketch-map of the great serpent. 



oval embankment within. From the point of 

 junction the body continues for a short distance, 

 perhaps forty feet, and then terminates in a 

 rounded and slightly widened point. This ter- 

 minal elevation is entirely omitted by Squier and 

 Davis, but is noticed by more recent writers ; 

 and, on account of the supposed presence of ob- 

 scure auxiliary ridges of earth extending down 

 the slopes to the right and left, it is likened to the 

 body of a frog by Mr. McLean. These auxiliary 

 ridges, and the minor appended features recog- 

 nized by Squier and Davis and by some recent 

 visitors, are too obscure to be identified with abso- 

 lute certainty, and I consider it unsafe to intro- 

 <lnce them into my illustration ; but the entire 



The topography of the outer end of the promon- 

 tory is somewhat peculiar, and needs to be briefly 

 described. The extreme point is about thirty feet 

 beyond the end of the artificial embankment, and 

 is slightly cleft in the middle. The right-hand 

 portion has no exposure of rock, and descends in 

 a narrow, rounded spur to the rivulet at its exit 

 from the gulch. The left-hand point is a naked 

 shelf of rock a little to the left of the dii-ect con- 

 tinuation of the earthwork, and some ten feet be- 

 low its terminal point. It is rounded at the mar- 

 gin, and perhaps twenty-five feet wide. 



Descending upon this rock, we are upon the 

 brink of a slightly overhanging ledge composed, 

 of rather compact, nearly horizontal beds of lime- 



