12 The West American Scientist. 



no one can answer.' From the character of the pottery found 

 in some of the mounds, identical with that unearthed in the Man- 

 dan country of the Upper Missouri, together with the fact that 

 Catlin says the Mandans claimed once to have lived in Ohio, 

 the author suggests that the tribe of Mandans in their strength 

 might have been the builders. Of course the ages of the fortifi- 

 tions are only guess work. Some archaeologists have placed 

 them at 4,000 years; others 1,000. Mr. Morehead thinks the 

 latter venerable enough. And from the fact of finding fairly well 

 preserved bones the longer age would be unreasonable. The 

 growth of forest trees upon the embankments certainly fix the 

 date as long ago as three centuries. To-day there are vigorous 

 growing trees of more than i5oyears of age growing upon the em- 

 bankments. But we shall have to find more facts before solving 

 the mysteries surrounding the work oi the mound-builder. This 

 book is all the more valuable because it is built up of facts in- 

 stead of theories. It is the work of a student and an enthusiast 

 in the field. His accurate and careful surveys and his illustra- 

 tions and maps make the whole subject clearer than ever before; 

 and especially satisfactory to all who have been upon the ground 

 and know something of the typography of the country. Mr. 

 Morehead' s measurements make the total length of the walls of 

 Fort Ancient 18,712 feet; length of crescent in the new fort, 269 

 feet; length of parallel walls, 2.760 feet; total length of terraces 

 within one mile of station, 5^ miles; grand total of artificial 

 work in length, 10 17-52 miles. 



EDITORAL. 



The editor again asumes the publication of the West Ameri- 

 can Scientist, Messrs. Samuel Carson & Co., of San Francisco, 

 having severed their connection in November, 1 889. The delay in 

 the appearance of this issue is due to the editor's late explorations 

 on the Colorado Desert, but we hope to avoid further irregularities 

 in the future. We shall continue, however, to follow the advice 

 of the late Dr. C. C. Parry and consider our botanical explora- 

 tions of first importance, and the Scientist secondary. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



*Only publications not elsewhere noticed are here acknowledged. 



Sanitary Entombment; the Ideal Disposition of the dead. By 

 Rev. C. R. Treat. The Sanitarian, Dec. 1889. Reprinted. 

 From the author. 



Bulletin de la Societe Zoologique de France. Vol. XIV, Nos. 

 1, 2, 3, 4. 5, 6, 7 and 9 (1889). 



Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum, Vol. XI (1888). 



Bulletins of the U. S. National Museum, Nos. 33-37, inclusive. 



