THE CROSS AND THE CRUCIFIX. 357 



rudely handled. The Indians themselves had made good collections which 

 would be of value. 



THE CROSS AND THE CRUCIFIX. 



The next paper was read by Prof. Mason on behalf of Col. Chas. Whittle- 

 sey, who could not be present. 



The following is a summary : The object of the paper is to call attention to 

 the difference between the cross and the Roman crucifix. Figures, having the 

 general name of crosses, are quite diverse, and are widely dispersed. The sym- 

 bol adopted by the early Christian churches had an upright part extending above 

 the cross-piece. Among the Greeks the four arms were of nearly equal length. 

 St. Anthony's cross resembles a capital T with a short horizontal part. The 

 Maltese is so much distorted that it nearly loses its right to the name. It has 

 frequently been asserted that the T form was derived from the ancient Phallic 

 worship long before the Christian era, intended as a mitigated expression of an 

 indelicate symbolism. Whatever value should be placed upon this interpretation, 

 neither the form nor the association can be properly connected with the Roman 

 crucifixes, which, like our rope and scaffold, was merely the machinery of execu- 

 tions. A figure precisely in the shape of the Roman cross might be found and 

 not have any religious meaning whatever. On nearly all inscribed rocks of the 

 United States there are characters or figures that closely resemble some of the 

 forms of the cross. In most cases these inscriptions represent the work of the 

 red man Little reliance can be placed on the interpretations, as they are so 

 varied. Whatever they mean we cannot determine their value until there are 

 translations covering not merely symbols and words but well determined senten- 

 ces having relation to each other. 



The Chairman said he understood the gist of the matter to be that the infer- 

 ence held by some that the symbol of Christianity proper existed in prehistoric 

 times. There was no discussion. 



Prof. G. H. Perkins, Burlington, Vt., gave a description of a collection of 

 Sioux weapons and articles of dress in the possession of the University of Vermont, 

 and invited members to inspect them. 



The same gentleman afterward delivered an address on some " Recent Arch- 

 aeological Discoveries in Vermont." The folio vving is a brief summary : In the 

 locality of Monkton very many hammer stones made of quartz pebbles. Hun- 

 dreds of these have been found. The great mass of specimens found are of a 

 grey quartzite flaked into knives. Hatchets, hoes, spades, spear-points and other 

 implements. Pestles of very diverse forms of fine work have been found. Celts, 

 amulets, gouges and other fine specimens have been found. Chips and flakes 

 in immense quantities. Cart loads of such flakes exist over perhaps an hundred 

 acres of a farm. These must have been brought to the place as no such rocks 

 exist in places near the locality. 



VI— 23 



