1877.] Anthropology. 45 
Castle Neck River is a purely tidal estuary, the water is salt, and the 
place where this bird was shot was only half a mile from the open sea. 
At this time of the year no corn could be obtained in the fields, as the 
farmers all house their corn in this locality, in the fall, and it is a mys- 
tery where the bird could have obtained it, as it is the wildest of the 
ducks that visit this part of the coast. 
I have never found in the stomachs of this species anything but fish, 
shell fish, and marine plants and insects, except in this instance, which I 
I think is the only one on record. The bird was given to me by Mr. 
Ceby, and upon dissecting it I found the corn as above stated. If any 
one can give a like instance among the sea ducks I should like to hear 
of it through the columns of the Naturalist. —J. Francis LeBaron. 
ANTH OLOGY. 
CORDATE ORNAMENT. — A stone object, plowed up in Chester 
County, Pennsylvania, some twenty years ago, has just been brought to 
my attention. It is “ heart-shaped,” made of a coarse, micaceous sand- 
stone, and measures two and a quarter inches from the notch to the apex, 
two and a half inches across the broadest portion of the lobes, and aver- 
ages three fourths of an inch in thickness, one lobe being somewhat 
larger than the other. The edges have evidently been worked and 
rounded by aboriginal tools, and the notch may have been partially cut 
at the same time, as the upper portions of the lobes would indicate. 
This has, however, been deepened artificially by the over-zealous discov- 
erer, with a metal instrument, as may be seen in the sharply cut outlines, 
which possess a much more recent appearance than the other portions, 
the grains of sand, in many cases, having been severed and smoothed, 
The object. was, possibly, intended for a rude ornament; or it may have 
béen fashioned for purposes of sepulture. The former supposition seems 
improbable, as the material is so coarse and crumbles easily, while there 
is no orifice or projection by which it might have been suspended. 
point is somewhat truncated, which has probably been effected by pound- 
ing, as it has a ragged, rough appearance. 
The two-lobed form is but a conventional device of civilized man to 
represent the human heart, and it is not at all probable that the North 
American Indian employed such a figure before he came into contact 
With the Europeans, especially as he does not use it in his paintings and — 
etchings at the present time, but copies directly from nature. To be 
Sure, the symbol was used in the hieroglyphics or picture-writings of 
ancient man in the eastern hemisphere, but we have no proof that it 
occurred in the rude rock-etchings of nomadic tribes in the United 
States. This form of ornament is so scarce that it can hardly represent 
a type. I have seen but this one and have heard of but two others, one 
of which is figured by Dr. Rau in his Archeological Collections of the 
nited States National Museum. The latter was said to have been 
