LECTURE XII. 349 



and many other places. There is usually found upon the bot- 

 tom of the turf-moor^ above the gravel and sand of the old 

 alluviumj which in some parts of Switzerland contains bones 

 of the elephant, the so-called white bottom (hlanc fond), a 

 calcareous bed, consisting of snail-shells reduced to powder, 

 belonging to still existing species. Into this white bottom, 

 which corresponds to the lower letten of Meilen, the piles are 

 driven, and at Wauwyl one pile was found driven ten feet into 

 the old bed of the lake. Upon this white bottom lies the peat 

 generally five to six feet thick, but in some spots it reaches 

 twenty feet. The stone and bone implements of the " culture- 

 bed" usually lie upon the white bottom under the peat, in 

 which no trace of antiquities has been found. The broken 

 bones, the implements, in short, the whole material constitut- 

 ing the culture-bed, form the lowest stratum of the peat bed. 

 If relics of the historical period, such as Roman coins, are 

 found, as at Moosseedorf, they are situated higher up, whilst 

 those of the middle ages he immediately under the vegetable 

 earth. The pile-works at Wauwyl consisted of five floors 

 formed of superimposed rounded beams connected with the 

 upright piles. The lowest of these floors rests upon the bed 

 of the lake. The thickness of all the layers amounts to about 

 three feet. Two separate platforms are frequently connected 

 by round beams passing from the upper to the lower floor, 

 leaving channels between them. Neither notches, mortises, 

 hgatureSj or other contrivances were traced, which would have 

 required more perfect instruments. In some places we are 

 induced to believe that the platform could easily rise and sink 

 with the water. The space between the layers of the trees 

 is filled up with clay and branches. Here and there vertical 

 piles are found, the top of which is burnt in the shape of a 

 cone. Upon this terrain, as far as it has been explored, we 

 are able to trace a rectangular plain 92' in length and 50' in 

 width, which seems to have been covered with platforms of 

 different heights. Round this square, which may perhajDS be 

 considered as the habitation of a family, are seen frequently 

 irregular vertical piles without any intervening horizontal 

 beams. 



