460 The American Naturalist. [May, 
founded with the smaller stones called “ nut-holders ” or “anvils,” 
which are from two to twenty inches in diameter, one to four 
inches in thickness, and which have one or more slight cavities or 
pits on each face. These cavities average about one inch in diam- 
eter, and very rarely exceed one-half inch in depth, the average 
being one-fourth of an inch. These relics are found throughout 
the west and south along the streams and lakes, and the prairies 
are no exception to the rule. Still less should cup-stones proper ` 
> confounded with the large circular excavations in rocks found 
in various regions which have been used as mortars. Mortars are 
found in fields. The rocks may be ten inches square and upwards, 
and the cavities range from six to fifteen inches in diameter and 
from one to five inches in depth. They are also found on the ` 
upper surface of ledgesand on the tops of very large boulders. — 
In one place in this vicinity there are at least twenty-five mortars 
on two acres of land. 
While the American cup-stones are similar in nearly every 
respect to those found in Europe and other portions of the globe, 
it would be the best policy to study them as an entirely separate 
class of antiquities, for in all probability there is not even 4 
remote connection between the two hemispheres in this respect. 
After.a thorough comparison has been made and the necessary 
links have been found, there will then be ample time in which bo 
bring forward the facts to prove relationship. In the meanwhile, 
awaiting thorough exploration of the field, all such attempts, 
though interesting in a literary point of view, may be considered 
somewhat premature in a scientific one. 
Since the above was written I have examined a book, just pub- 
lished, which treats of the same kind of ancient work. It apes: 
nine or ten years after Rau’s, and, so far as known to me, IS the 
only general handling of the subject within that period. Its title 
is “ Archaic Rock Inscriptions; an Account of the Cup and Ring 
Markings on the Sculptured Stones of the Old and New Worlds. 
It is of anonymous authorship, but béars the imprint of A. Reader, 
London, 1891, and is a 12mo of only 99 pages. The wa ee 
evidently one of the mystical antiquarians who, to speak figura- 
A tively, have their eyes continually turned to those és fatui the 
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