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NEW TOBK, June 20, 1890. No. 38 



CONTENTS: 



On the Determination of Parallax 

 by the Spectroscope. 



A. D. Risteen I 

 Temperature in Storms. 



M. A. Veeder i 

 B OOK-Re VIE ws . 



The Criminal ; 



Among the Publishers ; 



The Cherokees in Pre-Colum- 

 bian Times. Cyrus Thomas .. . 365 



Notes and News 370 



The Royal Society of Canada.. 373 

 Health Matters. 



Sterilizing Water 374 



Coffee Inebriety 374 



Letters to the Editor. 

 Dr. Hann''s Studies on Cyclones 

 and Anticyclones. 



Franz A. Velschow 374 



THE CHEROKEES IN PRE-COLUMBIAN TIMES.. 

 IV. 



[Continued from p. 370.] 



In some cases, as at the Liberty Township Works ("An- 

 cient Monuments," Plate XX.), a special arrangement seems 

 to have been made for this purpose. Here we see a connected 

 third circle, much smaller than the other two, in which is a 

 crescent and mound; there is, however, a little exterior cir- 

 cle. We notice here that the square or village site is near 

 the bluff from whence springs issue. 



The square of the Seip Works ("Ancient Monuments," 

 No. 2, Plate XXI. ) and of that figured in No. 3 (same plate) 

 are next the stream, as there were no springs in reach. 



The complicated group at Newark, of course, presents fea- 

 tures difficult to explain; but it is apparent that there 

 were two villages, probably established at different times, 

 but both occupied from the time the latter was built until 

 the whole was abandoned. The octagon is near the creek, 

 but its position was doubtless selected on account of the 

 spring near its northern corner. The southern circle, E, 

 was possibly a place devoted chiefly to ceremonies and 

 games. One line of parallels seems to have been a passage- 



way from one village to another. It is apparent from their 

 courses and the topographical features of the area that none 

 of these guarded ways were intended for race-tracks. That 

 the small, circular enclosure F, known as the "Observatory 

 Circle," was not sufficient in extent to supply the villages 

 with bread, is admitted : hence it was necessary to assume 

 that there were unenclosed fields, probably on the land 

 north of the group, between the parallels running east and 

 west, and in the area east of the pond. It is possible that 

 the space between the two lines of parallels, running east 

 and west, was partially occupied by dwellings, especially 

 that portion on the upper, level land. These suggestions are 

 of course largely speculative; nevertheless, if there be any 

 truth in the tradition of the Tallegwi, it is probable that 

 here they made their first determined stand after defeat in 

 open battle. The people of other villages, not enclosed, prob- 

 ably fled thither, and joined in erecting fortifications and 

 defensive walls. Be this as it may, it is apparent that they 

 belong to the same type as those in the Scioto and Paint 

 Creek valleys, and may be ascribed to the people who built 

 the latter. That they were defensive seems to be estab- 

 lished by the considerations presented, and others which 

 might be urged did space allow us to offer them. It is ap- 

 parent to any one not biassed by a preconceived theory, who 

 will study these works carefully, that their characteristics 

 are essentially aboriginal : in other words, there is nothing 

 in their form or construction contradictory to the theory of 

 their Indian origin, except it be the single fact that a few of 

 them approach very nearly to true geometrical figures. 

 That it was a custom among the Indians north and south to 

 build circular enclosures and forts, is fully attested by the 

 historical records; it is also known that some of the Indian 

 forts in the northern section were polygonal, especially 

 those built by the Iroquois tribes. Numerous instances can 

 be cited where villages were surrounded by fortifications in 

 both these forms. 



The suggestion that the circles adjoining squares were 

 built around maize-fields is not original with the writer, as 

 it had already been presented by Lewis H. Morgan, in his 

 " Houses and House Life of the American Aborigines." 

 He remarks, that " with respect to the large circular enclos- 

 ures, adjacent to and communicating with the squares, it is 

 not necessary that we should know their object. The one 

 attached to the High Bank Pueblo contains twenty acres of 

 land, and doubtless subserved some useful purpose in their 

 plan of life. The first suggestion which presents itself is, 

 that as a substitute for a fence it surrounded the gai'den of 

 the village in which they cultivated their maize, beans, 

 squashes, and tobacco. At the Minnitaree village a similar 

 enclosure may now be seen by the side of the village, sur- 

 rounding their cultivated land, consisting partly of hedge 

 and partly of stakes." Whether these dirt walls were mere 

 supports to stockades is a question not yet settled ; neverthe- 

 less it is probable they were surmounted by stakes, or sup- 

 ported a wooden fence or screen of some kind. The fact 

 that the ditch is here usually on the inside cuts but little 

 figure in the discussion, as we find this to be the case in 

 many works which are undoubtedly of a defensive character, 

 as Fort Ancient, and the circular enclosure in Iowa shown 

 in Plate II., "Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Eth- 

 nology." In fact, this was consistent with the Indian mode 



