460 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



SO exactly with my specimen that I cannot doubt they were swedged in the same 

 mould. And hereby another mystery is explained. My specimen has a nicely 

 shaped edge, with the corners very neatly and artistically formed ; then the body 

 of the ax appears to have been broken off by an irregular fracture just a little 

 below where the crease or groove should have been — but it was noticeable that 

 there was not the slightest show of the copper having been bent by the force sup- 

 posed to have broken it off. I at first explained this singular fact by supposing 

 that the copper had been tempered and made brittle in some way, so that it 

 would break off short and sharp without bending. But Messrs. Carey and 

 Bailey, of our Academy of Science, " knocked the stuffing out " of this theory 

 by proving by chemical tests that the material was pure, malleable, unalloyed, 

 soft native copper. The apparent break had occurred just where there was the 

 greatest bulk or thickness of the metal, and hence the perfect non-bentness of 

 the whole piece was a phenomenal puzzle unsolved. But when Mr. Teubner's 

 specimen was found, and showed a similar appearance of break in about the 

 same place, (although the seeming line of fracture was not exactly the same,) it 

 went to prove that neither of them had ever been broken at all; that each speci- 

 men as it is comprises all the metal there was in the original piece of native ore, 

 and the apparent " broken off place " was the irregular and unshaped terminal 

 end of the whole piece, the swedge having shaped three edges and left the 

 fourth one just as it happened to come out. 



In addition to this second copper ax relic, Mr. Teubner also has a copper 

 relic found at the same place, which was a bit of copper about as large around as 

 an ordinary lead-pencil, two and a half inches long, and tapering or pointed at 

 both ends. After considerable scratching and picking and examination with 

 magnifying glasses, it was discovered and demonstrated that this instrument was 

 composed of four small strips of copper cold-welded or swedged together so neat- 

 ly and perfectly that the relic had been much handled and several times critically 

 examined, before this fact of itsquadruplex composition was discovered; but after 

 discovery the four pieces were picked apart at one end and some of the weld- 

 Hnes traced. Well, what was it for ? It may have been polished, and twisted 

 into the hair as au ornament; but quite as likely it had no other use than as a 

 charm, or fetish, to protect the owner from unseen harms. The small strips 

 were probably made by rubbing or rolling a bit of the native and malleable cop- 

 per ore between two heavy, flat stones until it was rolled into a sort of wire, and 

 then the four pieces perhaps swedged together in a double mould made in hard, 

 stone, and afterward rolled between heavy flat stones. 



In addition to the above, the following extract from the report of a recent 

 meeting of the DesMoines Academy of Sciences will be of special interest to those- 

 whose taste in scientific matters runs to archaeology : 



" An ancient stone ax was exhibited which was different from anything of the 

 sort ever seen or heard of before by any of the members. It was nine inches 

 long, and two and five-eighths inches wide. The head is wrought into apeak, flat- 

 on two sides and rounded on two sides. There is a large groove worked aroundi 



