52 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



' Several polished tubes of stone have been found in one of the 

 lesser mounds, the use of which is not apparent. One of these, now 

 on my table, is 12 inches long, one and one fourth wide at one end, 

 and one and one half at the other. It is made of a compact lead 

 blue steatite, mottled, and has been constructed by boring - , in the 

 manner of a gun barrel. This boring is continued to within about 

 three eighths of an inch of the larger end, through which but a small' 

 aperture is left. If this small aperture be looked through, objects 

 at a distance are more clearly seen. Whether it had this telescopic 

 use or others, the degree of art evinced in its construction is far 

 from rude. By inserting a wooden rod and valve this tube would 

 be converted into a powerful siphon or syringe.' 



For a time these were called telescopic tubes, and it will be ob- 

 served that the description is like that of those found at Otisco Lake, 

 Palatine Bridge and Lake Champlain, which differ much from the 

 ordinary stone tubes. Those found on the east shore of Lake 

 Champlain, by Prof. George H. Perkins, were from seven to 13 

 inches long, the perforation being about an inch in general 

 diameter, contracting to half an inch at one end, which had a small 

 perforation, closed by a stone plug. Others have been found on 

 that lake, but these plugs are not elsewhere reported. 



The material of tubes in general is soft, and often ornamental. 

 Some are gouged out, and some drilled, and the outline varies 

 greatly. The long ones, with one end expanded, and with a 

 small central perforation in this, connecting it with the usually uni- 

 form perforation just within, are of quite soft material. Those from 

 Otisco Lake were either filled or in contact with red paint. This 

 class of tubes embraces those much longer than the ordinary forms, 

 and they are more slender than the long ones of California. Some 

 forms are drilled from both ends, and this may be the case with the 

 larger part. They do not seem to reach the Atlantic coast, but one 

 of oolitic limestone was found at Deming's Point, Dutchess County, 

 which was broken at one end. It is now five and three fourths 

 inches long, an inch in diameter at the perfect end, and one and 

 one eighth at the other. 



While it is conceded that the California tubes were pipes, their 

 use in the East is not yet determined. They were made and used 

 by early nations, not the later comers, probably, among whom, how- 



