838 The American Naturalist. [September, 
" Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge." Altars have been occa- 
sionally found in the mounds, but there has never been but one taken 
out entire. This altar has a broad rim extending around it eight 
inches wide. The central depression is four inches deep, twenty inches 
long, twelve inches wide ; making the total length thirty-six inches. 
On the east side of the mound, in the gravel layer, five feet from the 
summit and three feet from the base line, were found three copper celts 
and seven copper ear-rings. With these were three human ribs. The 
copper was in three rows 3 the celts in the lowest row, four of the 
brooches in the second row, and three in the third row. Three more 
skeletons were found on the base line just north of this copper, but 
they had nothing with them. 
Northeast of this last deposit is a spot of dark earth, which con- 
tained the ashes and calcined bones of six cremated individuals. With 
five of these copper had been buried, but the heat of the fire had 
melted it. Though damaged by heat, I obtained one celt, two large 
plates, eleven copper beads, and a cracked clay pipe. The burned 
bodies occupied spaces ranging from sixteen to twenty-four inches. A 
pipe, cracked by the heat, was found with the copper celt. 
With the next skeleton found was a small copper celt, unhurt by the 
fire, which showed traces of both cloth and wood. The skeleton lay 
with head to the north on the base line, and was not very well pre- 
served. Two more decayed skeletons were found which had copper 
buttons placed with them. They were placed with heads to the south 
and on the base line of the mound. 
In the centre of this mound nothing whatever was found. Twelve 
feet from the centre, to the west, were two cremated bodies which had 
broken flint arrow-heads buried with them. To the north of these was 
a small, irregular altar. In this altar was a small black thornpipe, said 
by Squier and Davis to be the true mound pipe. Ten feet eastward 
was a small pit, with nicely squared edges, eight inches deep, twelve 
inches long, and ten inches wide, containing the skeleton of a child. 
The bones were well preserved, and with them were two perforated 
panther teeth. We found the bones of three more individuals in this 
mound. They were a little northeast of the small pit last mentioned, 
but nothing whatever was found with them. One of the skulls was 
saved whole. It is a very good representative of one of four types 
taken from this mound. One of these three skeletons was placed in 
a shallow pit, and near the group was an irregular mass of hard- 
burned clay beveled and without depression. It could not therefore 
have been an altar. 
