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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tribal mounds, shell mounds, stone tumuli, 

 and single graves. In this region there is a 

 remarkable absence of megalithic monu- 

 ments and animal-shaped mounds. The 

 presence of rock-walls, embankments, and 

 defensive inclosures, is noted ; and, in con- 

 nection with the grave-mounds, cremation 

 and sundry funeral customs are alluded to 

 and discussed. The plans of these promi- 

 nent indications of early constructive skill 

 are based upon original surveys, and the im- 

 pressions conveyed of the monuments them- 

 selves are derived from the personal obser- 

 vations of the writer. The author does not 

 concur in the opinion, so often expressed, 

 that " the mound-builders were a race dis- 

 tinct from, and superior in art, government, 

 and religion to, the Southern Indians of the 

 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries." His 

 reasons are fairly and cogently stated, and 

 it is shown that the practice of sepulchral 

 mound-building, and the construction of ele- 

 vated spaces for chieftain-lodges and coun- 

 cil-houses, were perpetuated within the his- 

 toric period. In accounting for the marked 

 decadence in industry, combined labor, craft 

 and power which characterized these peo- 

 ples in the eighteenth century, when their 

 condition is contrasted with that of their 

 ancestors, two centuries before, it is sug- 

 gested that " the inroads of the Spaniards 

 violently shocked this primitive population, 

 imparting new ideas, interrupting established 

 customs, overturning acknowledged govern- 

 ment, impoverishing whole districts, engen- 

 dering a sense of insecurity until that time 

 unknown, causing marked changes, and en- 

 tailing losses and demoralizations perhaps 

 far more potent than we are inclined, at 

 first thought, to believe." 



Extended reference is made to the loca- 

 tion and contents of refuse-piles and shell- 

 heaps — objects which have of late attracted 

 so much attention in many parts of the 

 world, indicating, as they do, the resorts of 

 primitive peoples, furnishing evidence of the 

 food upon which they subsisted, and reveal- 

 ing the implements and utensils upon which 

 they relied for daily use. 



Stone-graves and the use of copper are 

 treated of in the tenth chapter. Plate VI. 

 — in which are figured the relics found in a 

 stone-grave in Nacoochee Valley — possesses 

 unusual beauty, and conveys an emphatic 



idea of the commercial relations existing 

 among the North American tribes. From 

 this grave were taken a laminated copper 

 axe, which had probably been obtained from 

 the shores of Lake Superior, a cassio flam- 

 med, from the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlan- 

 tic coast, the remnant of a basket made of 

 a reed not native to the valley, and stone 

 implements laboriously constructed of ma- 

 terials brought from a distance. All these 

 were once the property of a single indi- 

 vidual. 



In the chapters upon arrow and spear 

 heads — grooved, wedge-shaped, perforated, 

 and ceremonial axes — cutting, piercing, 

 smoothing, scraping, and agricultural im- 

 plements — the author enters upon a well- 

 considered analysis of the characteristics 

 of the prevailing types, and accompanies 

 his illustrations with descriptions and sug- 

 gestions indicative of extensive research 

 and accurate archaeological knowledge. 



In the fourteenth chapter we are made 

 acquainted with the different methods 

 adopted by the Southern Indians for the 

 capture of fish. Grooved, notched, and per- 

 forated net-sinkers and plummets are figured. 

 The chung-kee game — that famous game of 

 the North American Indians, to which they 

 were so passionately addicted that, when 

 all private property had been gambled 

 away, the desperate players hazarded even 

 their personal liberty upon the final throw — 

 is next considered ; and, in this connection, 

 numerous discoidal stones are shown. The 

 limits of this review do not permit us to 

 dwell upon the use of stone tubes in con- 

 nection with the arts of the medicine-man 

 and the conjurer, as explained by the au- 

 thor, or to enumerate seriatim the matters 

 treated of in this entertaining and instruc- 

 tive volume. We commend, as worthy of 

 careful study, the chapters upon pipes 

 (which are considered under the three 

 classes of idol-pipes, calumets, and com- 

 mon pipes), on idols and image-worship, 

 and upon pottery. The Etowah idol, figured 

 at page 432, is perhaps the most notable 

 ancient stone image which has yet been 

 found in association with Indian relics north 

 and east of Mexico. Much historical infor- 

 mation has been collected concerning the 

 primitive uses of tobacco and the office of the 

 peace-pipe. In plate XXIII the typical forms 



