84 EEPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



rites, a small skull carved iu rock-crystal, stone carvings in human and animal forms 

 (a number consisting of jade), face-marks (human) of serpentine, steatite, -white 

 marble, and obsidian, a carved box with lid (of volcanic stone), an ornamented stone 

 cylinder 16 inches in diameter, probably part of a column, copper or bronze objects 

 embracing celts, chisels, awls, needles, bells, T-shaped objects, and a small human 

 head. Further, clay spindle- whorls, vess Is of various forms (plain and ornamented), 

 a pipe, musical instruments, figures (human), and a number of stamps. This col- 

 lection contains many rare and even unique specimens. 



J. C. Zeledon, of San Jose", Costa Rica, gave a very large and fine metate from 

 Costa Rica. 



W. E. Safford, ensign, U. S. Navy, obtained and presented a collection from ancient 

 graves near the beach at Arica, Peru. Eight flint dart- heads (four inserted iu wooden 

 stems and representing the detachable part of harpoons), a grooved stone sinker, two 

 implements, a ladle, a small box with partitions, and five pin-shaped objects, all of 

 wood ; a copper knife with wooden handle, four copper fish-hooks, one with line at- 

 tached, a bone fish-hook with line and stone sinker, a fishing line, three spines of cac- 

 tus (?), one with a head of plaited rushes, a spindle with whorl and cord attached, two 

 wooden combs (?), two toy mattresses made of twigs, a Pandean pipe of small reeds, 

 pulverized mineral substances taken from the blanket of a female mummy, and three 

 fragments of pottery. 



S. H. Drew, of Wanganui, New Zealand, sent seventy-five flakes of obsidian and 

 chert from a Maori kitchen-midden, a fish-hook made of shell and bone, fragments of 

 Moa bones, and a plaster cast of a nephrite idol. 



James F. Johnson, of Holywood, Ireland, sent a collection of prehistoric antiquities 

 from county Down : Rude stone celts or axes, pounding or crushing stones, rude im- 

 plements more or less leaf-shapexl, fragments of animal bones (split), ox-teeth and 

 teeth of deer or elk from caves at Ballymenoch and Craigavad ; hammer-stones, pol- 

 ishing-stones, and rude axes and celts from an ancient manufactory at Ballymenoch; 

 crushing-stones, a hammer stone, rude celts, arrow and spear-heads, scrapers, knives, 

 harpoon-heads (?), sinkers, and sling-stones, all of flint, from second raised beach at 

 Holywood. 



Thomas Wilson, of Washington, recently United States consul at Nice, has de- 

 posited a large and valuable collection of prehistoric and, to some extent, historic 

 antiquities, gathered by himself in Italy, Switzerland, France, England, and the 

 Scandinavian countries, which was received and catalogued during the latter part of 

 this year. The contribution embraces drift and cave relics (paleolithic age), objects 

 belonging to the neolithic age and to the bronze period, and specimens of Etruscan 

 and Roman origin. The whole collection, the value of which can hardly be over- 

 estimated, contains 10>297 articles, and the entries nearly fill a volume of the cata- 

 logue. It would be impossible to give in the limited space of this report a statement 

 in detail of the collection, but at the same time something more than the brief abstract 

 above given is due both to the donor and to the collection. Where every specimen 

 is of importance it is hard to discriminate, but worthy of special mention are the 

 objects from the well-known caves of Southern France, the articles from the Dolmens 

 in Brittany, and a fiue series of implements of stone, bone, and horn, including a num- 

 ber of clay vessels (entire), from the Swiss lakes. Scandinavia is represented by a 

 large number of chipped implements, and a series of perforated axes in different 

 stages of manufacture, from the rude beginning to the finished specimen. Last, but 

 not least, is the bronze collection, which numbers over seven hundred objects. In 

 this we have an exhibit which can not be duplicated, except, perhaps, by some of the 

 larger European museums. It contains specimens from Scandinavia, from the Swiss 

 lakes, and a large number of Etruscan origin. Considering the fact that there were 

 less than fifty articles of bronze in the collection previous to this accession, its im- 

 portance will at once be seen. 



