1895.] Observations on a So-called Petrified Man. 327 
then a small neglected country or family burying-ground, sit- 
uated a few rods from the road. They also remember the 
burial, at about the same time, of an Indian but a few feet 
from this Negro; and I am trying to have the Indian dug up 
to ascertain whether it is likewise preserved or not. 
In company with several citizens of Tuskegee I drove to the 
scene of the find. The burial ground is near the top of a very 
large flat hill or plateau, and a few rods south of the grave is 
a small marshy or swampy bog, while some seven meters to 
the east there is aspring. Several years ago the public road 
was moved a few rods to the south in order to give it a better 
grade up the hill, and as the small, neglected burial ground 
had not been and was not worth keeping up, and was no longer 
used as such, the road was cut through a portion of it; and 
most people had now forgotten about its existence. The road 
was cut about one meter below the surface, and the ditch at 
the side was directly over the Negro woman’s body, and served 
to carry off the water from the spring just above. The result 
was that the body lay but about one-third of a meter below the 
ditch, and the water from the spring kept it continually wet, 
even when no water appeared on the surface. While the work- 
men were repairing the road and picking in the ditch, they 
hit something that proved to be a pine board. On removing 
it they came upon others, which they removed, and thus ex- 
posed a plain pine coffin in a remarkable state of preservation. 
The soil where the body was found is sandy, with enough 
fine, light-colored clay and moisture to give it the appearance 
of mortar. When a portion of the soil was dried, it held to- 
gether with great tenacity, and the dirt left on one’s hands be- 
came nearly white on drying, and felt smooth and slippery ` 
like powdered talc; in fact, I could detect no difference as re- 
gards looks or feeling. Portions of the soil had streaks of red 
color, probably due to iron. The hole left by the removal of 
the coffin soon filled with water, the soil being extremely wet, 
although very little moisture appeared on the surface on ac- 
count of excessive dry weather. The water had a decided 
milky appearance. I obtained samples of the soil from the 
bottom. of the hole, from the sides, and from the earth just 
