INDIAN TRADITIONS RESPECTING THEIR ORIGIN. 665 
out the use of the wheel, and is not glazed. Much of it is well burnt and is 
comparatively thin and hard. Probably the kiln was not used, and the harden- 
ing was done entirely by heating over coals or burning in an open fire. Dr. 
Evers mentions much of the dark pottery as simply sun-dried, but a series of ex- 
periments has led me to the conclusion that this is an error, and that simple sun- 
dried specimens are seldom found. ‘The dark-colored vessels are unquestionably 
very near the natural color of the blue clay of which they are made, but this 
color is not changed unless the color is subjected to considerable heat. The 
slight luster on the vessels was probably produced by polishing the surface with a 
smooth stone while the clay was soft, as is still done by many Indian tribes in 
America. 
Much of the Missouri pottery is ornamented by waved lines, circles, and 
stars, and other simple and symmetrical designs, in red, white, and black; but 
these colors were put on after burning, with a few exceptions, and are only well 
preserved under favorable conditions. In some of the red vessels the color was 
burnt in. Common incised lines and designs, and ‘‘ punch” and ‘‘nail” orna- 
mentation, also occur. 
The most important and interesting of the vessels are those that are modeled 
after natural forms which they faithfully represent, such as the gourd-like bottles 
and shell-like dishes, and those in which the design in ornamenting the vessel is 
to give the characteristics, if not the forms, of fishes, frogs, birds, beavers, pan- 
thers, bears, and other animals, as well as of men and women. Of such forms 
the plates in the memoir give many characteristic examples that are well worth a 
study. 
In this brief notice of the work it is only intended to call the attention of 
the readers of the Revitw to the first important memoir that has appeared on 
the as yet little known pottery of America, and to ask for it the attention which 
the subject demands. The time has at last come when the antiquities of our 
country and the remains of former Indian tribes are beginning to receive careful 
attention, and wild speculations and lo»se statements are giving way before the 
accurate presentation of facts. Such memoirs as the present will do much to 
put the knowledge of the archeology of America before the public ina proper 
way, and we can but offer our congratulations to the gentlemen of the St. Louis 
Academy who have presented a portion of the results of their explorations to the 
public in this modest, conscientiously written, and well-illustrated memoir. May 
its reception be such as to secure the publication of the other numbers of the 
series as proposed.—American Art Review. 
INDIAN TRADITIONS RESPECTING THEIR ORIGIN. 
T. L. LEWIS—BOLIVAR, MO. 
Almost every tribe has its own peculiar idea of the ‘‘ origin of man.” Man 
yi p g y 
of the South American Indians, as well as most of our Southwestern tribes, rep- 
resent, in their traditions, their fathers as issuing from caves, springs or lakes, 
IV—45 
