*78 Canadian Record of Science. 



the United States, are to be found these wonderful remains, 

 of the existence and origin of which, even the oldest red 

 man could give no history. 



Following in the track of these ancient tumuli, which 

 have been raised with some degree of order and sagacity, 

 we are bound to believe that they were constructed by a 

 very intelligent and somewhat civilized race, who during 

 long periods enjoyed the blessings of peace, but like most 

 nations of the earth, at times were plunged in the horrors 

 of war. We cannot tell by what name these strange people 

 were known during their existence. But archaeologists, to 

 keep 'hemselves safe, have given them the name of " Mound- 

 builders," from the nature of the structures left behind 

 them. 



Of this wonderful, semi-civilized, prehistoric race, we 

 have no written testimony. Their mysterious enclosures, 

 implements of war, and comparatively impregnable fortifi- 

 cations, together with a few strange tablets, are the only 

 evidence of their character, civilization, and doom. ISTo con- 

 temporary race, if such there existed on this continent, has 

 left any record of them. 



The mounds they have left are found in the western part 

 of the State of New York, and extend, it is said, as far as 

 Nebraska. And as they have lately been found in the North- 

 west, they have thus a much more northern limit than was 

 at first thought, while the southern limit is the G-ulf of 

 Mexico. 



Having seen only a few mounds in Illinois, Indiana and 

 Kentucky, I must confine my paper to those found in the 

 State of Ohio, where, during a residence of seventeen 

 months, I made the closest investigation my time and duties 

 permitted. In Ohio, the number of mounds, including 

 enclosures of different kinds, is estimated at about 13,000, 

 though it requires the greatest care to distinguish between 

 the mounds proper and those subsequently erected by the 

 Indians. In some parts they are very close together, which 

 is strong evidence that these regions were densely populated. 

 In others, a solitary mound, with adjacent burial mounds, 

 gives us the idea of a rural village or town. 



