No. 20.] m 



and was used for cutting trees. Fire was applied at the foot of the 

 tree, and the Stone Chisel was then used to cut out the coal. By a 

 repetition of this process, trees were felled and cut to pieces. 

 Wooden vessels were also hollowed out by the same means, as the 

 fire and the chisel were together their only substitute for the axe. 

 The Stone Chisel is found in all parts of the State, and in great 

 numbers. It will be noticed that among the specimens furnished 

 there arfi two kinds, one of which have plane faces, but this pecu- 

 liarity affords no indication of the special uses for which they were 

 designed. This implement was probably unknown to the " Mound 

 Builders," as it is not found in their works. 



The Stone Gouge is a different implement from the Chisel, but 

 appears to have been designed for similar uses. Being convex upon 

 one side, concave upon the other, and of greater length than the 

 chisel, it is better adapted for hollowing out wooden vessels, and for 

 giving to the basin thus formed a regular concavity. This specimen 

 was found near Leroy, in the county of Genesee. 



Arrow Heads are so common from Maine to Oregon, that it is 

 scarcely necessary to refer to the specimens furnished. One of them 

 is fashioned to revolve, on the same principle as the twist in the 

 rifle barrel. It is well known that Indian arrows are feathered at the 

 small end for the same purpose. It is not uncommon in Western 

 New-York to find the places where these arrow heads were manu^ 

 factured, which is indicated by the fragments of chert which lay 

 about in heaps. As the arrow heads are made by cleavage, it could 

 easily be done without metallic instruments. They are found in the 

 mounds of the west in large quantities, which sufficiently establishes 

 the great antiquity of the art. 



If we did not know that the Iroquois never used the Spear (they 

 have no word in their dialects for spear), it would be reasonable to 

 infer that the large specimen was a Spear Head. Its size and 

 weight preclude the idea that it was designed for an arrow. In the 

 Ohio mounds, rows of similar chert heads have been found lying 

 side by side like teeth, the row being about two feet long. This 

 has suggested the idea that they were set in a frame, and fastened 

 with thongs, thus making a species of sword or war club. 



Knives of chert were also used by the Iroquois for skinning deer 

 and other animals. The accompanying specimen was found near 

 the site of De~o-nun~da-ga-a, or Little Beards Town, in the valley 

 of Genesee, Livingston county. 



Among the Iroquois, as all other Indian races, the custom of 

 burying with the dead certain articles which their mythology pre- 

 scribed, has been the means of preserving nearly all that remains of 



