1893.] Shell Heaps of Florida. 115 
of minimum age may be obtained in the case of Mt. Taylor 
- through the size of trees growing between it and the water’s 
edge. Between it and the river grow two cypresses, respec- 
tively 14 feet in circumference four feet from the ground, and 
19 feet, 3 inches, 5 feet from the ground ; while a little to the 
north-west of the mound in the swamp grows a cypress 23} 
feet in circumference at a height of 5 feet from the ground. 
The cypress is a tree of slow growth, by some being placed 
next to the live oak in this respect. 
Another point illustrated by Mt. Taylor is that neighboring 
shell heaps are by no means of necessity contemporary. In close 
proximity to it in the river, is Bird’s Island,’ covered with a 
shell deposit between five and six feet in thickness. Through- 
out this deposit to the very bottom unornamented pottery is 
found in great abundance. North of Bird’s Island, on the 
western bank of the river, is the shell bluff described by Pro- 
fessor Wyman (Note A.). This shell bluff, by the absence of 
pottery and the small size of its Paludinæ, differs widely from 
Bird’s Island, and is probably contemporary with Mt. Taylor. 
Just what impelled the makers of Mt. Taylor to pile the 
debris of their meals to such a height and at such an angle it 
is impossible to surmise. No ridges of shell led to it, while no 
shell fields surround it, and it is evident that great care was 
taken looking to its isolation and to give to it its height and. 
shape. In comparison with the shell deposits of Huntoon | 
Island, of Bluffton, of Silver Spring (Lake George), of Tick 
Island and other localities where the shell deposit, though 
large, is spread over great areas and not piled at a single spot, 
the contrast is sistema striking. 
SHELL Deposit Orrostre BLUFFTON. 
On the west bank of the river, opposite Bluffton, is a level 
deposit of shell bordering the water. About fifty yards 
inland is a small symmetrical mound, not over three feet in 
The Paludinz on Bird’s Island, it may be remarked, are far larger than 
any found at Mt. Taylor; well illustrating a point stated in the preceding 
paper that shell fish of the St. John’s had a middle period of increased 
development, and a subsequent relapse to their earlier condition. 
