658 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
Specimens of mound-builder cloth have been found in several instances, 
strangely preserved from the most remote antiquity, through the effect of anti- 
septic substances, or, from being charred by fire. This cloth was woven of both 
animal and vegetable fibre; was coarse in texture, but composed of threads uni- 
form in size, and regularly spun. While the process of weaving seems to have 
been usually of the simplest description, there are instances of the manufacture 
of a kind of cloth so knotted at the intersection of warp and woof as to prevent 
either from being drawn. 
Besides the relics enumerated, a few statuettes and figures of animals have 
been found, which may have served as idols ; though there is nothing to show 
but what they were simply outgrowths of an esthetic feeling common to human- 
ity. A few sculptured and incised tablets have been exhumed, which represent 
scenes of mound-builder life, and give us a dim perception of their characteristic 
habits. One of these, known as the Davenport tablet, depicts a circle of persons 
dancing, or standing, around a mound upon which a fire is burning; while on 
the ground near by several human forms recline to await either sacrifice or burial. 
This sketch is rudely scratched upon a piece of slate on the other side of which are 
a number of characters, which, by some, are thought to form a calendar. Above 
the scene described, the arch of the sky is represented with sun, moon and stars, 
and above this again, are numerous characters which bear evdence of being an 
inscription, — indeed there is no doubt but that they convey a meaning in connec- 
tioo with the scene depicted below, which would unravel some antiquarian mys- 
teries if we could but decipher them. Another object of the same sort is figured 
by Mr. Conant, in the "Commonwealth of Missouri." This is an incised shell 
which was found in a mound near New Madrid, and depicts the war-like adven- 
tures of some prehistoric hero. It is a valuable relic for the information it con- 
veys as to mound-builder costume and arms, as well as some notion of the stage 
of advancment reached by this race in representing not alone the human figure 
in a state of rest, but also, when moved by passion or emotion. There is a most 
remarkable resemblance between this relic and similar specimens of native art 
discovered in Mexico, Central America and Peru. 
Having thus rapidly surveyed the archaeological ?ispect of the subject, it re- 
mains to present what we have learned of this people by an examination of their 
monuments. One fact is impressed upon us at once ; and that is that they were 
a numerous and strongly governed people. 
If their communities had not been extremely populous, it would have been 
impossible to furnish the labor for constructing the immense works which have 
excited so mnch attention from antiquarians ; and unless they were controlled by 
despotic power it would have been impossible to utilize the labor for this 
purpose. That they were one race from Vancouver's Island to Texas and Florida 
is proved by their relics, and by the mouldering remains of the people themselves. 
They possessed physiological characteristics which not only distinguish them 
from the modern red man, but also from nearly every modern people. One of 
the most striking of these characteristics is the low retreating forehead, and the 
