August io, 1888.] 



SCIENCE 



65 



follows the direction given it. The burning composition finally 

 reaches the loose powcler, and the Haiiie is communicated through 

 a small hole in the bottom of the cylinder to the bursting charge of 

 powder within the exploding chamber, the cylinder is thrown for- 

 ward and exploded, and the oil spread upon the surface of the 

 water." 



How a Mound was built. 



" While exploring mounds in Ohio this season, under the direc- 

 tion of the National Bureau of Ethnology," says Mr. Gerard Fowke 

 in a paper prepared for Scu-ncd, " I used great care in the examina- 

 tion of one mound in Pike County, in order to ascertain, if possible, 

 the exact method of its construction. 



"The mound was built upon the site of a house, which had 

 probably been occupied by those whose skeletons were found. The 

 roof had been supported by side-posts, and at intervals by additional 

 inner posts. The outer posts were arranged in pairs a few inches 

 apart, then an interval of about three feet, then two more, and so 

 on. They were all about eight inches in diameter, and extended 

 from two and a half to three feet into the ground, except one a few 

 feet from the centre, which went down fully five feet. All the holes 

 were filled with the loose dark dirt which results from decay of 

 wood ; a few contained fragments of charcoal, burned bones or 

 stone, but no ashes ; nor was the surrounding earth at all burned. 



" Around the outside a trench from three to four feet wide, and 

 from eighteen to twenty inches deep, had been dug, to carry away 

 the water which fell from the roof. Near the middle of this house, 

 which measured about forty feet from side to side, a large fire had 

 been kept burning for several hours, the ashes being removed from 

 time to time. The ash-bed was elliptical in form, measuring about 

 thirteen feet from east to west, and five from north to south. Under 

 the centre of it was a hole, ten inches across and a foot deep, filled 

 with clean white ashes in which was a little charcoal, packed very 

 hard. At the western end, on the south side (or farthest from the 

 centre of the house l. was a mass of burned animal bones, ashes and 

 charcoal. This was continuous with the ash-bed, though apparently 

 not a part of it. The bones were in small pieces, and were, no 

 doubt, the remains of a funeral feast or offering. 



"After the fire died down, rude tools were used to dig a grave at 

 the middle of the house. It measured ten feet in length, from east 

 to west, by a little more than six in breadth. The sides were 

 straight, slanting inward, with rounded corners. The bottom was 

 nearly level, fourteen inches deep, but slightly lower at the centre. 

 Over the bottom, ashes had been thinly sprinkled, and on these a 

 single thickness of bark had been laid. The sides had been lined 

 with wood or bark from two to four inches thick. When this was 

 done, two bodies were placed side by side in the grave, both ex- 

 tended at full length on the back, with heads directly west. One, 

 judging from the bones and condition of the teeth, was a woman 

 of considerable age. She was placed in the middle of the grave. 

 Her right arm lay along the side, the left hand being under the 

 pelvic bones of the other skeleton. This was apparently of a man 

 not much, if any, past maturity. The right arm lay across the 

 stomach, the left across the hips. This skeleton was five feet ten 

 inches in length ; the other, five feet four inches. 



" The space between the first skeleton and the south side of the 

 grave was covered with the ashes that had been removed from the 

 fire. Beginning at the feet in a thin layer, — a mere streak, — they 

 gradually increased in thickness toward the head, where they were 

 fully six inches thick. The head was embedded in them. They 

 extended to the end of the grave, reaching across its entire width, 

 and coming almost, but not quite, in contact with the other head. 

 A considerable amount of the burned bones lay in the south-west- 

 ern corner of the grave, and the ashes along this part curved up 

 over the side until they merged into what remained of the ash-bed. 

 This had extended to the west slightly beyond the end of the 

 grave. 



" As the earth removed from the grave had been thrown out on 

 every side, the bodies were in a hole that was nearly two feet deep. 

 The next step was to cover them. There was no sign of bark, 

 cloth, or any other protecting material above them. They were 

 covered with a black sandy earth, which must have been brought 

 from the creek not far distant. This was piled over them while 



wet, or at least damp enough to pack firmly, as it re(|uired the pick 

 to loosen it, and, besides, was steeper on the sides than dry dirt 

 would have been. It reached just beyond the grave on every side, 

 and was about five and a half feet high, or as high as it could be 

 conveniently piled. 



" So far, all was plain enough ; but now another question pre- 

 sented itself that puzzled me not a little ; and that was, what be- 

 came of the house .' That there had been one, the arrangement of 

 the numerous post-holes plainly showed ; but the large earth-mound 

 above the tumulus or grave was perfectly solid above the original 

 surface, giving not the slightest evidence that the posts or any part 

 of the house had ever reached up into it. I incline to the opinion 

 that the great fire near the middle of the house had been made from 

 the timbers composing it ; that the upper timbers had been torn 

 down, and the posts cut off at the surface, the whole being a kind of 

 votive offering to the dead. At any rate, it is plain that a house 

 stood there until the time the mound was built ; and it was not 

 there afterwards. 



" For the purpose of covering the grave, sand was brought from 

 a ridge a short distance away. There was no stratification, either 

 horizontal or curving. Earth had been piled up first around the 

 black mass forming the grave-mound, and then different parties 

 had deposited their loads at convenient places, until the mound 

 assumed its final conical arrangement. The lenticular masses 

 through almost the whole mound showed that the earth had been 

 carried in skins or small baskets. The completed mound was thir- 

 teen feet high, and about one hundred feet in diameter. 



" Two and a half feel above the original surface wasan extended 

 skeleton, head west. It lay just east of the black earth over the 

 grave. Sixteen feet south of the grave, on the original surface, and 

 within the outer row of post-holes, were two skeletons extended, 

 heads nearly west. It would seem that the flesh was removed be- 

 fore burial, as the bones were covered with a dull-red substance, 

 which showed a waxy texture when worked with a knife-blade. 



"No relics of any description were found with any of the skele- 

 tons ; but a fine copper bracelet was picked up in a position that 

 showed it was dropped accidentally." 



The Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean. 



The Pilot Chart is published by the Hydrographic Office on the 

 first day of every month, and, although reference is frequently made 

 to it in the daily and weekly press, no comprehensive description of 

 it, its scope and objects, and the method of its preparation, has 

 been written previous to a paper read a few months ago, and re- 

 cently published by Mr. Everett Hayden, in charge of the Division 

 of Marine Meteorology of the United States Hydrographic Office. 

 In the following abstract are presented the essential parts of Mr. 

 Hayden's paper. 



The base of the Pilot Chart, the permanent portion which does 

 not change from month to month, is simply a track chart of the 

 North Atlantic on Mercator's projection. This is lithographed in 

 black. Near the topis a compass-card, which the navigator uses 

 to lay off his course ; and in the lower left-hand corner, a storm- 

 card, which illustrates the circulation of the wind around an area 

 of low barometer, with brief practical rules for action to avoid the 

 dangerous portions of an approaching cyclone. Light curved lines 

 cross the chart, showing the variation of the magnetic compass, 

 and a light dotted line near the coast is the hundred-fathom line. 

 Small arrows indicate the general drift of ocean-currents. All of 

 this is printed in black, and is not changed from month to month. 



The portion of the chart printed in blue comprises essentially a 

 meteorological forecast for the month following the dale of issue, 

 and in addition to this there are plotted ihe principal steamship and 

 sailing routes recommended for the month. Small circles and ar- 

 rows plotted unifoimly over the chart indicate graphically the prob- 

 able percentage of calms, and the frequency and force of the pre- 

 vailing winds in each five-degree ocean square. There being no 

 fixed meteorological stations on the high seas, it is necessary to 

 group together observations made on board vessels in some way 

 by which they can be localized and averaged up. This is done by 

 dividing up the ocean into squares bounded by five degrees of 

 latitude and longitude : and every vessel which goes through one 

 of these squares and keeps meteorological obser\-ations adds to the 



