86 [Senate 



wing to the former j and in process of time, the two together may 

 not be unworthy of comparison with the more universal collections 

 of the National Government at the Patent Office. Governments owe 

 it to themselves, and to succeeding generations, to make these col- 

 lections; and there is no good reason why our own favored State 

 should fail in her duty in this respect. 



Without any further observations, which had perhaps better have 

 been omitted, a few explanations will be made upon the names and 

 localities of the specimens which accompany this report. 



The " Stone Mortar," called in the dialect of the Senecas, a 

 Ga-ne-ga-ta, is an Iroquois vessel; and was used for pounding corn, 

 for pulverizing roots, barks, etc. for medicines, and for grinding 

 mineral paint or red clay. Such are the uses for which, the Senecas 

 affirm, the Stone Mortar was employed. It was found near Allen's 

 Hill in the codnty of Ontario, upon the farm of John C. Mather. 

 The entire stone, which would weigh over 200 pounds, was buried 

 in the ground even with the upper surface, and upon the shady side 

 of an oak. On raising it from the ground, four cavities were found 

 !Bpon the lower surface, much deeper than those upon the upper face, 

 and worn into each other on the sides. As it was impossible to 

 transport so large a stone, it was broken into two parts horizontally, 

 and the upper part selected for preservation, it being the one last in 

 use, and just as it was abandoned by the Senecas. This is the part 

 which is presented. That it had been used for many years, is evi- 

 dent from the fact that it was literally worn out upon the lower 

 face. The stone is the red and green sandstone of the Genesee. 



The " Stone Pestle" was found on the Seneca river in the county 

 of Onondaga, at a place called the Reef Pestles of this description 

 are found very frequently in various parts of the State; from which 

 it is probable that wooden mortars were generally used for the same 

 purposes, the stone mortar rarely ever being found. It may be well 

 to add that the wooden mortar is still in use for pounding corn, 

 among the Senecas and Cayugas, in the western part of the State. 

 They never resort to the mills of the white people, but each family 

 has its wooden mortar. It is simply a cylinder of wood about a foot 

 and a half in diameter, and three feet in length. In one end is 

 formed a cavity of sufficient capacity to hold a peck of corn, in 

 which, after being hulled, the corn is reduced to flour by wooden 

 pounders about five feet in length. 



There is also a smaller stone pestle, octagonal in shape, which was 

 found in the county of Wyoming. It was in the use of a wagon- 

 maker, for grinding paint. 



The Stone Chisel, V h^ga-o-gwat-ha, is an Iroquois implement, 



