HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



mass of charred material, debris, and earth covering the cache, parts 

 of specimens often being several feet distant from one another. One 

 hundred and six of the one hundred and thirty-six pipes secured were 

 fully restored. The remaining thirty, made of very soft materials, 

 were weathered and decomposed beyond repair. More than half of 

 these thirty fragmentary pipes had been broken while in use and 

 mended with copper by the owners. About twenty of the thirty are 

 effigies of birds of various kinds, the other ten being effigies of the 

 otter and beaver, and of the plain curved platform type. Of the one 

 hundred and six pipes restored, sixty are effigies and the remainder 

 plain, the latter made with more or less expanded bowls and curved 

 bases. All of the one hundred and six are made of the Ohio pipestone 

 native to the region adjacent to the mound, with the exception of 

 one (a large effigy pipe), of coral limestone. In almost every instance 

 the pipes found by Squier and Davis were made of this pipestone, 

 although they did not recognize the stone as a native product but 

 stated that the pipes were "mostly composed of red porphyritic stone, 

 somewhat resembling the pipestone of the Coteau des Prairies, except- 

 ing that it is of great hardness and interspersed with small, variously 

 colored granules." At the time of the exploration by Squier and Davis 

 (1846) but little was known of the geological formations in the state, 

 so that they may be excused for not recognizing the rock from which 

 the pipes were made, although its native bed is only a short distance 

 from the mound. 



Otter Effigy Pipes. — Pipes made in the image of the otter {Lutra 

 canadensis) taken from the mound are eight in number. In five of 

 these the animal is represented with a fish in its mouth. Two of the 

 sculptures are full-length (pi. 11, 1), while three of them represent 

 only the head and shoulders. The three remaining show the plain 

 head and shoulders. The early sculptors must have been greatly 

 impressed with the otter, as they were able to portray with remark- 

 able fidelity to nature the appearance and habits of the animal. 



To those who have studied the habits of the otter it is readily 

 apparent that the ancient sculptor in depicting this animal produced 

 a masterpiece full of spirit and action. Comparison of the sculpture of 

 the otter taken from the mound and a colored plate of the same animal 

 shown in Cuvier's Mammalia (vol. II, pi. 135), with the animal itself, 

 readily shows how true to nature the ancient artisan did his work 

 and how erroneously the earlier modern artists sometimes portray 

 their subjects. 



The sculptured pipe of the otter shown in plate II, 1, is made of 

 yellowish-brown Ohio pipestone; the platform 4^2 inches long, 



[350] 



