232 CONDITION OF THE BONES. 



opinion, "furnishes a stronger evidence of their great an- 

 tiquity than any of the proofs that have been derived either 

 from the age of a subsequent forest growth, or the changes 

 wrought on the river terraces where they most abound/' It 

 is true that the bones in Stone age graves are often extremely 

 well preserved; but it is equally true that those in Saxon 

 barrows have in many cases entirely perished. In fact, 

 the condition of ancient bones depends so much on the 

 circumstances in which they have been placed, that we 

 must not attribute much importance to this argument. The 

 evidence derived from the forests is more reliable. Thus 

 Captain Peck* observed near the Ontonagon river, and at a 

 depth of twenty-five feet, some stone mauls and other imple- 

 ments in contact with a vein of copper. Above these was the 

 fallen trunk of a large cedar, and "over all grew a hemlock 

 tree, the roots of which spread entirely above the Mien 

 tree " . . .. / . and indicated, in his estimation, a growth of 

 not less than three centuries,, to which must then be added 

 the age of the cedar,, which indicates a still " longer succession 

 of centuries, subsequent to that protracted period during 

 which the deserted trench was slowly filled up with accumu- 

 lations of many winters." 



The late President Harrison,, in an address to the Historical 

 Society of Ohio, made some very interesting remarks on 

 this subject, which are quoted by Messrs. Squier and Davis.f 

 "The process," he says, "by which nature restores the 

 forest to its original state, after being once cleared, is ex- 

 .tremely slow. The rich lands of the west are, indeed, soon 

 covered again, but the character of the growth is entirely 

 different, and continues so for a long period. In several 

 places upon the Ohio, and upon the farm which I occupy ^ 

 clearings were made in the first settlement of the country ^ 

 and subsequently abandoned and suffered to grow up. Som$ 

 * Wilson, Lc* vol, i. p. 256. f Lc. p. 306, 



