688 General Notes. — [ November, 
NOTE on THE Mexican SPERMOPHILUS. — Fresh specimens of this ` 
animal (S. Mexicanus), still rare in collections, have reached me through 
Mr. George B. Sennett, of Erie, Pennsylvania, who has lately returned 
with a fine collection of mammals and birds from the vicinity of Fort 
Brown, Texas, — a highly interesting locality, which, through the exer- 
tions of Dr. J. C. Newell, of the army, and of Mr. Sennett, has furnished 
various species new to our fauna. In 1857 Professor Baird had some 
dozen or more specimens to work upon, but no additional ones have 
hitherto been forthcoming, as Mr. Allen’s monograph just published cat- 
alogues none. Mr. Sennett’s specimens are in fine order, and correspond 
precisely with Baird’s and with Allen’s elaborate descriptions. — ELLIOTT 
Covers, Washington, D. C. 
Papitio Crespnontes IN New Enerianp. — On the 6th of last 
September, Mr. N. Coleman captured in the vicinity of Berlin, Con- 
necticut, the only specimen of this Southern insect ever recorded from 
New England. As the larva is not known to feed on any other plant 
than the orange, the butterfly probably hatched from a larva accidentally 
_ transported with trees from Florida, or emerged from a chrysalis sent 
orth as a curiosity. 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 
EXAMINATIONS OF INDIAN Mounps on Rock RIVER, AT STERLING, 
ILLINOIS. — I recently made an examination of a few of the many In- 
dian mounds found on Rock River, about two miles above Sterling, Ili- 
nois. The first one opened was an oval mound about twenty feet long, 
twelve feet wide, and seven feet high. In the interior of this I found a 
dolmen or quadrilateral wall about ten feet long, four feet high, and four 
and a half feet wide. It had been built of lime-rock from a quarry near 
by, and was covered with large, flat stones. No mortar or cement had 
been used. The whole structure rested on the surface of the natural 
soil, the interior of which had been scooped out to enlarge the chamber, 
Inside of ths dolmen I found the partly decayed remains of eight human 
skeletons, two very large teeth of an unknown animal, two fossils, one 
of which is not found in this place, and a plummet. One of the long 
bones had been splintered; the fragments had united, but there re- — 
mained large morbid growths of bone (exostosis) in several places. One 
of the skulls presented a circular opening about the size of a silver dime. 
This perforation had been made during life, for the edges had com- 
_ menced to cicatrize. 
I later examined three circular mounds, but in them I found no dol- — 
mens. The first mound contained three adult human skeletons, & few 
fragments of the skeleton of a child, the lower maxillary of which indi- 
cated it to be about six years old. I also found claws of some carnivorous 
animal. The surface of the soil had been scooped out, and the bodies 
