Poe Wee 
FIRE-RESISTING POWER OF BUILDING MATERTALS. 447 
idea of the prowling of a beast of prey. Every little track or impression left on 
the earth by the lower animals caught his keen eye. The wind blew cold and 
keenly through the lofty trees on the margin of the river, yet that broad, brawny 
savage was entirely naked. Had I been unarmed I had much rather have met a 
lion than this simewy biped.” One chambered mound which we opened was filled 
with alternating layers of wood charcoal and burned human bones, as though a 
number of human bodies had been burned at the same time; perhaps the wives 
and slaves of some mighty chieftain sacrificed at his burial to attend him in 
the other world. What awful rites of human sacrifice or cannibal feasts have 
been enacted on these lofty hills, accompanied with the shouts and songs of the 
savage hosts and the smothered groans and screams of the victims as the blazing 
fires lit up the dark forests below and gleamed out over the rolling waters, we 
may never know. Nothing is left to tell who they were, whence they came or 
how they passed away. These mounds are scattered along the bluffs for miles 
up and down the river. ‘They are doubtless of great age, perhaps as old as the 
time when the river was yet cutting a new channel through the great deposit of 
Loess which once filled this valley. It is a puzzle to account for the fact that in 
some of these mounds of apparently the same age and construction the burials 
have been so different ; in some the bones being burned, in others, in a natural 
condition. In none of them have any implements of stone or pottery been 
found, which is evidence of their great antiquity. 
FIRE-RESISTING POWER OF BUILDING MATERIALS. 
According to experiments made by Dr. Cutting, State geologist of Vermont, 
with regard to the resisting power of building stones to fire, no known natural 
stone used for building purposes can be called fire-proof. Conglomerates and 
slates yield readily to the action of heat, and granite is injured beyond cheap and 
easy repair by a heat that would melt lead. Among the best resisting stones are 
the brown sandstone, used so largely in New York for fronts. Limestones and 
marbles are even better than these, but a heat of from goo° to 1200° is sufficient 
to calcine them at last into quicklime. In short, most stone buildings are as 
much damaged by fire as wooden structures are. Brick is, however, rather im- 
proved by heat, until the heat is sufficient to vitrify it. Dr. Cutting recommends 
brick, with soapstone trimmings, as the most fire-proof materials which can be 
used in buildings. 
WATERPROOF CEMENT. 
Dissolve guttapercha in bisulphide of carbon so as to form a syrupy mass. 
Apply this warm to the two surfaces to be joined, and dry if possible under 
pressure. Another: Guttapercha, 1 tb.; india rubber, 4 0z.; shellac, 1 oz.; lin- 
seed oil, 1 0z. Melt the materials together. The mass becomes solid on keeping, 
and must be melted before application. 
